Tragedy struck as a South African church collapsed at the start of an Easter Service, leaving at least 13 people dead with many others injured.
The 29 people who were victims of the South African church which collapsed in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal, were rushed to the hospital after the incident.
It was learnt that local officials blamed the tragedy on heavy rainfall in the area, around eMpangeni on Thursday night.
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A majority of the victims were found to be women who were sleeping in the church and an 11-year-old girl was also among the casualties.
The service was supposed to span the weekend to honor the Christian celebration, Easter but unfortunately, the wall at the front of the Pentecostal Holiness Church collapsed at the start of the program.
On Friday, a special prayer service was held in a large tent in front of the church, reports the eNCA TV station.
“We received a call on Thursday night that part of a church wall had collapsed on congregants due to heavy rain and wind,” Nomusa Dube-Ncube, a provincial minister, told local broadcaster Enca.
Provincial Disaster Management Centre officials were expected to accompany Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube to the site to plan possible support for the bereaved families.
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