Saturday, September 14, 2019

Tragedy strikes Ganesh idol immersion in three States

33, including two minors, drown in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi

14/09/2019, , STAFF REPORTER,BHOPAL/MUMBAI

Tragedy at dawn: Rescue workers retrieving a boat that capsized during the idol immersion in Bhopal.A.M. Faruqui

Thirty-three people, most of them in their 20s, drowned during the immersion of Ganesh idols in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi, officials said on Friday. Some of the dead were minors, they said.

In Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal, 11 people died when two overcrowded country boats carrying a 20-ft. tall idol for immersion in Lower Lake in Khatlapura capsized. Eight were rescued. Seventeen people were on the boats when the incident took place around 4.30 a.m., Bhopal Collector Tharun Kumar Pithode said.

Six of the dead in Madhya Pradesh were in their 20s, while two were minors.

In Maharashtra, at least 18 people drowned during the immersion of Ganesh idols. The immersion of idols, which began on Anant Chaturdashi on Thursday, continued till Friday morning. Drowning incidents were reported in 11 districts — Amravati, Nashik, Thane, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Dhule, Bhandara, Nanded, Ahmednagar, Akola and Satara, an official said.

Four people drowned in Amravati, three in Ratnagiri, two each in Nashik, Sindhudurg and Satara, one each in Thane, Dhule, Buldhana, Akola and Bhandara.

Two men and two women drowned in the Yamuna in Delhi during Ganesh idol immersion, officials said.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath ordered a magisterial inquiry and announced a compensation of ₹11 lakh each for the families of the victims.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “The capsizing of a boat at Khatlapura Ghat in Bhopal is saddening. In this hour of grief, our thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives.”

Meanwhile seven people, who were carrying a tall Ganesh idol from Seawoods in Navi Mumbai, suffered injuries from electric shock at 12.25 a.m. on Friday, while exiting a flyover.

The idol came into contact with an overhead high tension wire.

Two of the injured are in a critical condition.

The four who drowned in Delhi, in their 20s, were residents of Nihal Vihar, Nangloi, officials said.

(With PTI inputs)

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