Death toll in Tripura Rath Yatra mishap rises to 7, 16 others injured

TIL Desk/National/Unakoti/ Seven people, including two children, died of electrocution and 16 others were injured as a Rath or ceremonial chariot of Lord Jagannath came in contact with a high-tension wire in Tripura’s Unakoti district on Wednesday, police said.

The incident happened around 4.30 pm in Uttar Pabiacherra in Kumarghat during the ‘Ulta Rath Yatra’ or return car festival organised by ISKCON, they said. During this festival, the sibling deities — Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhdara and Lord Jagannath — return to their abode in a chariot, a week after Rath Yatra.

Thousands of people were pulling the chariot, made of iron and heavily decorated, when it came in contact with a 133 kv overhead cable. Parts of the Rath immediately caught fire and people fell on the road with their bodies on flame, police said. Fire Services reached the spot, and brought the situation under control, they said.

Six people died on the spot while one person died while being taken to the GB Pant Hospital in Agartala, they said. Among the deceased, there were two children and three women, police said.