Four killed by live wire at MP Ganesh pandal, days after Mumbai deaths
Power supply was restored after a short circuit, triggering the fatal electrocution, police said
Four men were electrocuted and three injured after a live power cable snapped and fell on them while they slept inside a Ganesh pandal in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh.
Police said a preliminary probe suggested a short circuit caused the wire to break, with the victims electrocuted when power was restored around 5.00 am.
The tragedy comes six days after two people, including an eight-year-old girl, were killed and four injured in a separate electrocution incident near a Ganesh pandal in Mumbai’s Kalachowki.
Four men were electrocuted and three others injured after a live power cable snapped and fell on them while they were sleeping inside a Ganesh pandal in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandla district early on Saturday, 26 September, police said.
The incident occurred in Hirapur village in Nainpur, around 50 km from the district headquarters, an official said.
The tragedy comes less than a week after two people, including an eight-year-old girl, were killed and four others injured in a separate electrocution incident near a Ganesh pandal in Mumbai’s Kalachowki on 20 September.
In Mandla, members of the organising committee had returned after immersing the Ganesh idol, following which eight youngsters slept inside the pandal, Nainpur station house officer Mansharam Wagen told PTI.
A preliminary probe suggested that a short circuit caused a power cable to snap and fall on the victims. They were electrocuted when the power supply was restored around 5.00 am, Wagen said.
"Four people died while others managed to flee. All of them were sleeping on the ground, which made things worse as it created a direct, low-resistance path for the electric current to pass through the body," he said.
There was also moisture due to the weather, which may have worsened the situation, he added.
The deceased were identified as Jainu Bhanwre (19), Ravi Jharia (24), Krishna Kumar Bhanwre (18), and Virendra Bhanwre (24). The three injured were undergoing treatment at a hospital, the official said.
The Mumbai incident on 20 September had also apparently followed a short circuit at a temporary drinking water and cold drink stall near the entrance of the Mahaganpati Utsav Mandal in Kalachowki. An eight-year-old girl and a 33-year-old woman died, while four others suffered electric shocks.
The back-to-back incidents have brought renewed attention to electrical safety at temporary structures erected during Ganesh festival celebrations.
With PTI inputs