Ganesha idol gets stuck in wire; 3 killed, 7 injured

Kolkata: Three persons were killed and seven others were injured when an idol of Lord Ganesha touched the overhead wire of circular railway during the immersion procession at Baje Kadamtala Ghat near Eden Gardens.

The incident took place at around 1 am on Monday when organisers of the puja from Janbazar in Central Kolkata went for the immersion of the idol height of which was around 19 feet.

Police said the idol that was being brought on a trolley which got stuck in the overhead wire of circular railway that was at a height of 5.5 metre from the ground.

The circular railway runs along the river Hooghly and there are no provisions for immersion if idols of excessive height as it might touch the overhead wires.

Police came to know from an eye witness that one of them tried to lift the wire using a bamboo stick. Around 25 KV power was passing though the wire.

Though the power supply in the wire got restricted as it snapped when it was being lifted with the bamboo stick, a fire broke out and left ten people injured.

Three were declared brought dead when taken to hospital while the rest seven received severe injuries. A 30-year-old daily wage labourer, Bitash Mondal, who was engaged to carry the idol, was declared brought dead when taken to SSKM Hospital. Two other victims are Bimal Sahani and Jitendra Sahani. Both of them were Puja organisers.

The injured persons including Mahesh Shaw, Dinanath Ram, Amar Mondal and Arjun Chhetri were admitted to Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. Rest of the injured persons were taken to the SSKM Hospital.

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said this is an unfortunate incident and it perhaps took place due to recklessness. The state Fire department and police are looking in to the entire incident and preventive measures will be taken accordingly.

A spokesperson of the Eastern Railway said that they were not given prior information about the immersion procession. But they are also planning precautionary measures to avoid repetition of such incidents.