Ranipet: Death toll in temple fest climbs to four, cops say crane toppled due to bad road
RANIPET: One more person died on Monday in the crane mishap that took place during a temple festival near Nemili on Sunday night. The death toll has increased to four, while five among the six injured were discharged. Police arrested the crane operator on Monday.
DIG (Vellore range) MS Muthusamy and Ranipet SP Deepa Sathyan went to the spot and conducted an inquiry. Muthusamy called the incident unfortunate. “The crane was operated on a route with poor road conditions, which led to the mishap. They organized the festival only after getting permission from us (police),” the DIG said. He said appropriate steps will be taken to ensure such incidents do not occur in future.
The operator was identified as Murugan (35), resident of Panapakkam, and has been booked under IPC sections 279 (driving or riding on a public way rashly or negligently as to endanger human life), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence).
The victims were identified as C Boopalan (45), G Jothibabu (16), P Muthukumar (46) and M Chinnasamy (76). The incident occurred at Draupadi Amman temple during the Mayilaru festival at Keezh Veedhi near Nemili in the district on Sunday night. Hundreds of devotees took part in the festival and police was deployed for security on the occasion.
As part of the ritual, devotees pierced their backs and were suspended from the crane and being carried to garland the deity. “The devotees were lifted as high as 30 feet. Since the road was quite bumpy, the crane lost its balance and toppled. The devotees who were dangling from the crane came crashing down,” the police said. The incident caused panic among the crowd who ran helter-skelter.
Jothibabu, who was hanging from the crane, suffered critical injuries in the fall and died before reaching the hospital, police said. Boopalan, Muthukumar and Chinnasamy, who were standing in the crowd, also died. Boopalan died on the spot, while Muthukumar was declared dead on arrival.
Chinnasamy succumbed to injuries on Monday morning. Six others who sustained injuries were admitted to Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur and Arakkonam government hospitals. Five of them were discharged on Monday. Handlooms and Textiles Minister R Gandhi, Arakkonam MP S Jagathrakshakan and collector D Baskarapandian visited the families of the victims and offered condolences on Monday.