City Reports

Bharatpur: 24 killed in wall collapse at marriage hall, many victims from Jaipur

May 11, 2017, 10:27 am

wedding

Representative image.

Jaipur: At least 24 people were killed while 28 others were injured when the wall of a marriage hall collapsed on them in a wedding ceremony in Bharatpur late on Wednesday.

The victims were participating in a wedding function and having dinner. Storm caused the wall, which was already in a dilapidated condition, to cave in.

Read Also: Bharatpur marriage hall collapse: marriage rituals performed after tragedy

The victims included seven women, four children and 11 men.

Many of the victims were from Jaipur’s Sodala and Sethi Colony in Jaipur. They had gone to Bharatpur as guests in the wedding of Dharmendra Saini, son of Deepchand Saini, a resident of Jodhar Bazaar in Jaipur. Dharmendra was to tie the knot with Anju, the daughter of Kirorilala Saini belonging to Malipura village near Bharatpur.

Nearly 60 people were buried under a makeshift roof and the wall that collapsed.

They were rushed to a hospital in Bharatpur where many of them received primary treatment.

Seriously injured victims were rushed to Jaipur.

Read Also: Marriage hall collapse in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur: Death toll reaches 25

There were more than 800 people participating in the wedding.

Many of these people took shelter under a makeshift structure to protect themselves from storm.

They were standing in a close group. Due to the lack of space, they were leaning on the wall, causing the structure to fall.

A stampede-like situation followed when people heard a loud thud.

Amid screams and cries for help, people soon realized that guests had been buried alive under the wall.

Police were informed following which a rescue team rushed to the spot.

Initially there were reports that only 10-15 people had been injured, but as the victims were pulled out from under the debris, the tally increased.

The police have rounded up one Laxman Lal, the younger brother of the marriage hall’s owner Bharat Lal.

First published: May 11, 2017