It was being taken out in procession as part of Chitrai festival
Five persons were electrocuted and over 20 others injured after a 56-foot high temple car came in contact with an overhead high tension wire at Nellorepet in Gudiyatham on Wednesday midnight.
The incident comes just a day after a temple car overturned in Arni in Tiruvannamalai district killing five persons and injuring several others.
The temple car of Arulmighu Balasardhuleeswarar temple in Nellorepet was being taken out in a procession as part of the 10-day Chitrai festival on Wednesday. Two spells of rain had interrupted the car procession in the evening.
“When it reached the North Mada Street in Nellorepet near the Gudiyatham to Pernambut road, the temple car came in contact with the high tension wire about 12.05 a.m. The wooden car was wet due to the rain and the chain of the car was made of iron. So, people who were pulling the car were electrocuted,” explained a police officer of Gudiyatham.
The deceased were identified as Elattharasan (24) of Nellorepet, who was an employee of BHEL, Vilvanathan (55) of Nellorepet, Punitha (35) of Bhuvaneswaripet, Vignesh (19) of Nellorpet and Karthikeyan (19) of Annasalai.
Collector Ajay Yadav, who inspected the spot and visited the patients at the Government Hospital at Gudiyatham on Thursday, said 50 persons sustained injuries of various degrees.
“Of the 50 persons, most of them had minor injuries. The final number of persons who sustained injuries in the incident and are undergoing treatment at various hospitals is 26. Of these, 18 are undergoing treatment at the Government Hospital at Gudiyatham, four each at Government Vellore Medical College Hospital at Adugamparai in Vellore and Christian Medical College at Vellore,” he said.
The Collector has constituted a committee under tahsildar of Gudiyatham.
“The committee will look into the causes and sequence of events that led to the electrocution. I have told them to come out with a detailed report within three days. The committee consists of executive engineer of TNEB, Gudiyatham, representatives of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department, local police station and a polytechnic college,” Mr. Yadav said.
Inspector General of Police (north zone) P. Kannappan, Deputy Inspector General of Police-Vellore range M.T. Ganesamoorthy and Superintendent of Police, Vellore, A. Kayalvizhi visited the spot.