Bharatpur wall collapse: 24 dead, 30 injured at wedding hall; owner booked

Bharatpur wall collapse: Police said the wall was almost 90-feet long and 12-13 feet in height. (Source: Express Photo by Oinam Anand)

At least 24 people were killed and 30 injured after a wall at a marriage home in Bharatpur collapsed on Wednesday night. The police said that a storm and heavy rain had triggered the collapse.

At the time of the collapse, at around 8:30pm, wedding formalities had ended and guests had begun eating. “The rain and some hail stones led people to seek shelter near the wall. The wall, we later realized, was faulty and had not been constructed properly. It was also supporting a tent that got weighed down in the rain. The wall collapsed, it was all over in a few minutes,” said Rampal Singh, a witness.

The police identified the owner of the marriage home as Sharanlal Sharma and Vinod Kumar. (Source: Express Photo by Oinam Anand)

Superintendent of Police Anil Tank said the marriage home owner had been “booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder”. He also added that a survey of all marriage homes and gardens in Bharatpur would soon be conduced to review safety and security measures. Tank said the wall was almost 90-feet long and 12-13 feet in height.

The police identified the owner of the marriage home as Sharanlal Sharma and Vinod Kumar. The marriage home, which was built less than a year ago, was constructed using sub-standard material and building norms were flouted, police confirmed.