Delhi: 1 dead, 17 injured as stage set up for jagran collapses at Kalkaji temple

A 45yearold woman died and 17 people were injured when a stage set up for a religious function at the Kalkaji temple collapsed in the early hours of Sunday police saidThe tragic incident occurred around 1230 am they said The identity of the deceased is yet to be identifiedAccording to police a jagran religious function was organised at the Mahant Parishar of Kalkaji temple on Saturday and around 1600 people attended itDelhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal condoled the death of the woman and wished for the speedy recovery of the injuredThe accident that happened last night during a jagran at the Kalkaji temple is tragic A woman has died may her soul rest in peace I wish for the speedy recovery of the 17 injured people Kejriwal said in a post on X in HindiI appeal to people of Delhi to take special care of safety standards in any kind of big event and make arrangements in such a way that no untoward incident happens he addedDeputy Commissioner of Police southeast Rajesh Deo said no prior permission had been granted for the event at the templeHowever sufficient staff was deployed to maintain law and order There was a gathering of around 1500 to 1600 people at around 1230 am on Sunday he saidAccording to the police an elevated wooden platform supported by an iron frame was set up near the main stage for the families of the organisers and VIPsAround 1230 am the elevated platform broke right from the middle as it could not bear the weight of the people sitting on it and collapsed injuring those seated on it and close to it on the ground the DCP saidAn eyewitness Varun said there was a large gathering at the temple as singer B Praak was present All of sudden the stage collapsed and those who were sitting close to the stage received injuries The singer had left by that time he told PTIAnother person who was present at the temple said he heard a loud noise and saw people running outIt was a stampedelike situation Everyone was running for their lives I was outside the temple when I got to know that the stage collapsed and some people received injuries he addedAmong those who had gone to attend the function but returned home early because of the huge rush at the temple 20yearold Suman Kanojia of Chirag Delhi said I went there with a relative at around 10 pm and returned by 11 pm because it was so crowded We thought of staying there a little longer but thankfully we didntThere was a huge crowd There were temple volunteers around to manage the crowd but no policemen Kanojia addedPushpa Singh 38 of Shahpur Jat too counted her lucky stars I went there with another person around 9 pm and it was overcrowded Even the parking was full of people We left around 1030 pm I am just thanking my luck that we left before it happenedAll those injured in the stage collapse were rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre and the Safdarjung and MAX hospitals by police and the publicThe fire brigade was called to the spot Seventeen people were stated to have been injured A 45yearold woman was brought dead at the MAX hospital Deo said adding that a Delhi Police crime team visited the spot laterThe condition of all those injured is stated to be stable he addedAn FIR under sections 337 304A and 188 of the IPC was registered against the organisers and further probe into the matter has been launched the DCP saidDirector of Delhi Fire Services Atul Garg said his department was informed about the incident at 1245 amTeams along with three fire tenders were rushed to the site The kirtan stage had collapsed injuring some people who were rushed to hospitals he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever