Tripura chariot tragedy: One more succumbs to injury, toll mounts to 8

Agartala: With one more wounded person succumbing to her injury on Tuesday, the death toll in the June 28 chariot tragedy in Tripura rose to eight, including three children, the police said.

A devotee named Ratna Rani Dhar, 49, died at the Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital in Agartala after battling for life for a week following the tragic incident.

Seven people, including three children, were electrocuted to death while 14 others were seriously injured on June 28 after a chariot made of iron came in contact with an overhead high-tension wire in the Kumarghat area near here.

A police spokesman said that the chariot taken out on the occasion of ‘Ulto Rath’, the return journey of the annual Rath Yatra procession, was carrying the idols of Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra.

Eyewitnesses had said that hundreds of devotees were pulling the rope of the chariot taken out by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), which came in contact with the 11,000-volt high-tension wire, as proper precautionary measures were not taken.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had condoled the deaths and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the families of the deceased.

A high level probe into the incident has been ordered by the Tripura government.