Techie couple buried under collapsed temple wall in Simhachalam; village mourns

VISAKHAPATNAM: A pall of gloom descended at the house of the techie couple at Chandrampalem in Madhurawada and surrounding areas, where the family members and relatives of the victims of a wall collapse incident in Simhachalam Sri Varaha Lakshmi Nrusimha Swamy Temple are residing. This sorrowful event has deeply saddened the local community.
The techie couple, Pilla Umamaheswara Rao (30) and his wife Sailaja (27), were buried under the collapsed wall near the bus complex area on the Simhachalam hill in the wee hours of Wednesday, following a heavy downpour along with thunderstorms and heavy winds.
Locals and relatives describe Umamaheswara Rao and Shailaja as a loving couple who were friendly with everyone.
Their untimely demise, just as they were settling into their careers with good jobs after completing higher education, has plunged their family and friends into deep sorrow, their relative Raju said.
He further added that Uma Maheswara Rao’s father, Appalanaidu, is a plumber, and his uncle, Pilla Rambabu, is a well-known stage artist. Umamahesh is the only male child of two two-child family.
The HCL employee, Umamaheswara Rao, got married to Infosys employee Sailaja three years ago. Both are working in Hyderabad, but now they are in the work-from-home mode.
Sailaja, along with her husband Umamaheswara Rao, aunt G Mahalakshmi, and another relative Venkata Ratnam, reached the temple at 1 am.
They were waiting in the special darshan queue line at 2 am for the deity’s darshan when heavy rain lashed the temple, and suddenly the wall on top of six feet from the two queue lines of Rs. 300 collapsed suddenly, causing fatal injuries and resulting in their spot death.
The village of Chandrampalem is enveloped in grief, and many have expressed their condolences over this unfortunate incident.