BHOPAL: At least 14 people died in separate incidents related to Durga Puja idol immersion in Khandwa and Shahdol districts of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday. In Khandwa’s Pandhana area, 11 villagers drowned after a tractor-trolley carrying a Durga idol plunged into a dam-cum-pond.
In a separate incident, a man was crushed and four others injured when an out-of-control DJ vehicle ran over an idol immersion procession in Anjangaon village, also in Khandwa. Around 800 km away in Shahdol district, a 16-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man were washed away during idol immersion in the Son river at Gohparu.
The tragedy in Jamli village, Pandhana police station area, occurred when a tractor-trolley carrying a Durga idol and 20–25 villagers, mostly children and women from Rajgarh village, overturned into a small dam of the state’s water resource department around 5 pm.
Inspector General of Police (Indore Rural) Anurag said 11 bodies have been recovered so far, while SDERF rescue teams continue searching the pond.
Three survivors are in critical condition at hospital, and sources said the death toll could rise. The victims were aged between nine and 25 years, including six females aged 15–25, and the youngest, a nine-year-old boy.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced an ex-gratia sum of Rs 4 lakh for the families of the 11 deceased.
Preliminary investigations suggested the tractor driver misjudged the depth of the water and tried to lower the vehicle down the gradient slowly.
In the same Pandhana area, an out-of-control DJ vehicle from an immersion procession ran over another procession, killing 30-year-old Ramdev Chauhan and injuring four others. The driver fled the scene, and angry villagers torched the vehicle.
In Shahdol district, two people, identified as Shubham Gond (16) and Hanumat Lal (22), were swept away in the flooded Son river during the immersion procession in Gohparu.
In Ujjain district, three members of a family, including a 12-year-old boy, drowned in the Chambal river. While four people were bathing, the boy accidentally started a tractor on the bridge, which plunged into the river, resulting in their deaths, official sources said.