A religious procession turned fatal in India’s Mumbai when a giant Ganesha idol collapsed onto a crowd of devotees, leaving two people dead and five others injured.
The incident occurred on Saturday night near Mumbai’s Balaram Merchant Road where devotees were carrying the idol through the streets as part of the annual 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival celebrated across India.
The festival, celebrating the birth of Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity of wisdom, prosperity and new beginnings, sees worshippers transport statues through public roads before immersing them in the Arabian Sea.
Official reports confirm that emergency services rushed to the scene immediately following the collapse.
Rescuers from the Mumbai Fire Brigade, local police officers, traffic control personnel, 108 ambulance crews and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ward staff managed the site and transported victims to local medical facilities.
Doctors declared two men dead upon arrival at municipal and private hospitals. They were identified as 33-year-old Sanket Nevse and 30-year-old Brijesh Hemant Joshi.
Five other victims remain admitted under medical care across two facilities.
