CHIKBALLAPUR: One person died, while 18 others, including three schoolchildren, sustained burns after a pandal they were sitting under flew and touched a live electric wire at Sree Ramakrishna Sharadha Devi Vidya Mandir in Gauribidanur town of Chikkaballapur district on Saturday afternoon.
The incident occurred during the annual sports meet. Police sources said that a big crowd of parents and students had gathered under the pandal to witness the sports event. Around 2 pm, a big gust of wind blew the pandal and it touched a 66 KV power line passing over the school premises. Some of those seated rushed to catch the pandal and suffered an electric shock.
A parent, Raghavendra (45), a resident of Nagenahalli village of Madhugiri taluk, succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital. Of the 18 injured, two children, three parents, including the deceased, and five teachers, had been admitted to the hospital. One of the teachers, Tahsheen (25), has sustained grievous injuries and is undergoing treatment, while others are out of danger, hospital sources said.
Four children, two parents and two teachers admitted to the Gauribidanur Government Hospital are said to be out of danger. Officials rushed to the spot after the incident. Energy minister KJ George spoke to the officials and later announced that the government will bear the expenses of treatment of the injured.
Manish (14), Niharika (6), Kiran Kumar (13), Chandrashekhar (32), Uma (53), Nirmala (32), Roopa (38), Chandrakala (33) Vijayalakshmi (26), Nataraja (59), Kamala (49) and Sukanya (26) are among the injured. Ganesh, a correspondent of the school, has been booked by the police.