Dozens injured as football gallery collapses at Kerala’s Wandoor

Football loving children injured, suffer broken arms and legs as makeshift gallery at the Poongodu football ground collapses

People run to rescue the victims after a makeshift gallery collapsed at the Poongodu football ground at Wandoor in Malappuram on March 19, 2022. Photo: Video grab/Special Arrangement

Dozens of football lovers were injured when a makeshift gallery collapsed during a sevens football match at Wandoor in Malappuram on Saturday night.

The accident occurred at the Poongodu football ground on the Kalikavu-Wandoor road. The injured were admitted to different hospitals in and around Wandoor, while three people were admitted to Government Medical College Hospital at Manjeri.

The police said there were more than 1,000 people in the gallery when it collapsed around 9.30 p.m. According to locals, the ground and the gallery, made of bamboo and areca nut tree slats, gave in under pressure after the region received summer showers in the last two days.

Several of the injured had broken legs and arms. The number of injured is said to be more than 100 with several children. However, none was in critical condition.