At least 24 people including four children died during a storm, which crashed a wall down on an Indian wedding party.
It was reported that dozens more were injured when the 13-foot (four-metre) high concrete wall collapsed, trapping guests who had taken shelter from violent rain in a tin shack on Wednesday night, police superintendent Anil Tank told AFP.
“We worked through the night,” one rescue worker at the scene in Bharatpur, Rajasthan state, told India TV news network.
“We tried to rescue as many people as possible, the scene was horrific.”
Tank, a senior officer in Bharatpur, said 26 people were injured, 15 of them seriously. Television footage showed anxious relatives standing next to hospital beds.
Police have launched an investigation and detained a wedding hall manager on charges of causing death by negligence.
“We have registered a case and taken one of the managers of the banquet hall into custody,” district magistrate Narendra Kumar Gupta told reporters.
“We will investigate if the hall owners had a valid licence. In case they did not have a licence, appropriate action will be taken against them.”
Gupta also announced compensation of 50,000 rupees ($775) for the family of each person killed.
Comments 2