Five people were crushed to death and two others injured when a newly-built surface-level water tank collapsed on the outskirts of Yapaladinni village, around 25 km from here, on Saturday morning.
Nearly 10,000 people had gathered at the village as part of the week-long Urs festival that was underway at Hazaraj Janglipeersab Dargah in the village.
Around 8.30 a.m., the victims had gone to the water tank when three of the four walls – measuring between 10 and 20 feet – collapsed on them.
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Eeresh Kabber (29) and Jogi Pujari (55), both residents of Timmapurpet in Raichur, Huseinappa Kabber (21) of Gattu village in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana, Shahajahan (30) of Yemmiganur in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, and Jomel Misal (40) of Orissa died on the spot.
Two others were injured and are being treated at Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS).
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The incident resulted in a flash protest, where angry pilgrims held the Yapaladinni Gram Panchayat officials, zilla panchayat officials and the contractor who built the tank responsible for the tragedy.
The tank had been built by the gram panchayat at a cost of Rs. 2.29 lakh, and was opened just a day before the incident. "Had the water tank collapsed a day before, the casualties would have been much more considering the huge crowd which had gathered on the first day of Urs celebration," M. Jagadish Gowda, a resident of Yapaladinni said.
Tungabhadra Command Area Development Authority (T-CADA) chairman A. Vasanth Kumar, who visited the spot later in the day, demanded that criminal cases be booked against the contractor and officials for the "poor quality of construction that apparently caused the tragedy."
Assistant Commissioner M.P. Maruthi, upon the instruction of the Chief Minister, announced Rs. 1 lakh compensation each to the family of the deceased.