11 devotees electrocuted at temple fest in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur

Deputy inspector general Balakrishnan said three people died on the spot while the remaining succumbed at Thanjavur Medical College hospital

Updated on: Apr 27, 2022, 11:38:53 IST

By Divya Chandrababu

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CHENNAI: At least 11 people were electrocuted in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district after a truck decorated as a chariot came in contact with an overhead power line at an annual temple festival, a police officer said.

Thanjavur Temple Chariot Tragedy: A truck, decorated as a temple chariot in Thanjavur district, touched an overhead electric power transmission wire, leading to the death of 11 people

Deputy inspector general Balakrishnan said three people died on the spot while the remaining succumbed at Thanjavur Medical College Hospital. He added that 15 others were injured.

Police said a First Information Report has been filed, and investigations were underway to ascertain the exact cause of the accident. Fire and rescue personnel were rushed to the spot immediately.

Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin, who was expected to visit Thanjavur, announced financial assistance of ₹5 lakh for the kin of those killed. In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was deeply pained to learn about the accident. He announced a relief of ₹2 lakh each to the families of the dead from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Divya Chandrababu
Divya Chandrababu is an award-winning political and human rights journalist based in Chennai, India. Divya is presently Assistant Editor of the Hindustan Times where she covers Tamil Nadu & Puducherry. She started her career as a broadcast journalist at NDTV-Hindu where she anchored and wrote prime time news bulletins. Later, she covered politics, development, mental health, child and disability rights for The Times of India. Divya has been a journalism fellow for several programs including the Asia Journalism Fellowship at Singapore and the KAS Media Asia- The Caravan for narrative journalism. Divya has a master's in politics and international studies from the University of Warwick, UK. As an independent journalist Divya has written for Indian and foreign publications on domestic and international affairs.Read More

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