Mysore : Two persons were killed when a giant peepal tree adjacent to the Palace Fort crashed and reduced a nearby temple to rubbles, here on Tuesday.

The tree got uprooted and fell on the Kote Maramma temple, which was flattened by the impact.

The victims were identified as Susheelama who was in her mid 70s and Shylaja, in her mid 30s, and both of them belonged to the family of the priest in charge of supervising the rituals. They belonged to Sunnada Keri area in the city.

Residents Manjula and Ravichandra were injured. A fire service personnel, Karthik Urs, sustained injuries during the rescue operation. All three were shifted to the hospital.

A security officer at the palace, Raju, who witnessed the incident said he was inspecting the Gun House adjoining the temple when he heard a rumbling noise and came out to check what happened and saw the tree crashing down.

Though the temple is usually teeming with devotees on Tuesdays, there was no crowd but for four people who were inside the temple.

Shopkeepers in the vicinity rushed to the temple and pulled the four who were trapped in the debris and shifted them to hospital. However, two succumbed to injuries.

District in-charge Minister V. Srinivas Prasad visited the spot and Deputy Commissioner C. Shikha announced Rs. 1.5 lakh to the family members of the deceased, while the medical expenditure of those injured would be borne by the authorities.

Earth-moving equipment was used to clear the rubble. Meanwhile, the Mysore City Corporation Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath said he would ask the Forest Department to inspect the trees in the vicinity and identify those which are potentially dangerous due to shallow roots or rotting, so as to remove them.