At least 14 people were killed and about 50 injured after a pandal fell on them due to strong winds and heavy rains during a religious programme in Barmer district of Rajasthan on Sunday, police said.
A ‘Ram Katha’ was organised at a school ground near RaniBhatiyani temple in Jasol area of the district. The pandal was uprooted bystrong winds, trapping the people sitting under it, police said, addinghundreds of devotees were attending the programme.
“At least 14 persons have died in the incident andabout 50 are injured. Reasons of the deaths will be clear afterpostmortem,” said Ratan Lal Bhargava, Additional Superintendent of Policeof Balotara.
He said the injured were rushed to different hospitals inthe district.
Eyewitnesses claimed that the tent got uprooted due to thewinds and hovered for a few seconds in the air before collapsing.
The person leading the ‘Ram Katha’, Murlidhar Maharaj,stopped midway and asked people to leave as the pandal started to collapse. Hescurried from the stage within seconds, following which the pandal collapsed,leading to a stampede-like situation, they said.No immediate information was available about thecondition of Maharaj.