Chennai: As many as 11 persons including three children were electrocuted, 13 were injured when the temple car they were accompanying touched the overhead power line at Kalimedu village near Thanjavur during the early hours of today.
Inquiries reveal that the victims were participating in a car procession organised in memory of Tamil saint Thirunavukkarasar, by a local prayer club formed and run by the villagers for more than nine decades, when the mishap took place.
The procession started around midnight, and the incident happened at 3 am when the dome and the decorations erected on the car touched a high-tension line.
The temple car was negotiating a turn and faced some obstacles before being reversed when it came into contact with the overhead line. The people standing on the chariot were thrown in the impact, reports said.
The car went up in flames, destroying the image of Sri Apparperuman (Saint Thirunavukkarasar) that was placed on the car.
Those who died in the ghastly accident are M Mohan (22), K Prathap (36), A Anbazhagan (60), his son Raghavan (24), R Santosh (15), T Selvam (56), M Rajkumar (14), R Swaminathan (56), A Govindaraj, S Bharani (13) all from Kalimedu village and Nagaraj (60) of Parisuthammal nagar in Thanjavur a ladder merchant.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister MK Stalin has ordered financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the victims. He was also scheduled to visit the spot. Ministers, District Collector and top officials were already at the mishap site.
Collector Dinesh Ponraj Oliver visited the spot of accident and also the hospital where injured are being treated. Sources said a detailed probe will be launched to find out the cause of the mishap.
11 devotees electrocuted & 15 injured after a temple car came in contact with a live #wire in #Kaliamedu in #Thanjavur district
Government Announce Rs 5 lakh to the deceased by the state.#TamilNadu #ACCIDENT #electrocution pic.twitter.com/WvjBEglD9T
— News Today (@NTChennai) April 27, 2022