Woman dead as stage collapses during jagran at Kalkaji temple in Delhi

The incident took place when popular singer B Praak began singing and people gathered around the central stage to take a closer look, said police.

In a video of the incident, B Praak and other dignitaries could be seen sitting on the central stage while an adjacent stage collapsed. Some people could be seen sitting under the makeshift stage.

The stage at a religious event in Southeast #Delhi’s Kalkaji Mandir collapsed on Saturday night, killing one person and injuring at least 17 others pic.twitter.com/b5QbM9te8j

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) January 28, 2024

According to police, the incident took place around midnight during the Mata Jagran, which the temple has been hosting annually for the last 20-25 years. Police said no permission was granted for the event. “However, sufficient staff was deployed to maintain law and order. There was a gathering of around 1,500-1,600 people at around 12.30 am,” Rajesh Deo, DCP (Southeast), said.

Reacting to the incident, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said: “The accident that happened last night during the Jagran of Kalkaji temple is very sad. A woman has died in the accident, may her soul rest in peace. I wish for the speedy recovery of the 17 injured people. I appeal to all the people of Delhi to take special care of the security standards in any kind of big event and make arrangements in such a way that no untoward incident happens.”

Police said an elevated platform was put up near the main stage to seat the families of the organisers and VIPs. “At about 12.30 am, the elevated platform collapsed as it could not bear the weight of people sitting/standing on this stage. Some people were sitting under the platform as well,” Deo added.

The injured are being treated at the trauma centre at AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital and Max Hospital.

The DCP said Tina Prakash, a resident of Tughlakabad Extension, was declared “brought
dead” by Max Hospital. She is survived by her husband, who sells vegetables, and three sons.

A case under sections of causing death by negligence is being registered against the organisers.

B Praak said via a post on Instagram: “This is the first time I’ve seen something like this happen before my eyes… and I’m deeply saddened by it…I hope all the injured persons recover soon.”

He added, “I would like to say that management at such events is very necessary… I understand it (the gathering) was your love for Maa and me. However, we must be careful next time. We must take care of children and the elderly…”

‘Crowd went out of control’

Attendees said B Praak arrived at the event around 12-12.30 am and within minutes, people started gathering around the central stage and tried climbing up the VIP stage.

Sunil Sunny, the head priest at the temple, told The Indian Express: “We have been doing these jagrans for years now. Nothing like this has ever happened before…The devotees got excited seeing B Praak. We tried to control them but nobody stopped.” He further said, “I was there when the stage collapsed. Everyone started screaming and running. It was chaotic… There was one bamboo (pillar of the stage) which was shaking when people started climbing up. We tried to stop everyone but they were ‘out of control’.”

Sunny said the temple has all the fire safety clearances and NOCs. “We are not doing anything illegal,” he added.

Atul Garg, Delhi Fire Services (DFS) Chief, said they received a call around 1.20 am and rushed to the mandir with three fire tenders. “We helped pull out 8-10 persons who were trapped under the stage. The injured were aged between 5 and 81.”

Garg said the temple has all the necessary fire clearances, adding inspections were recently conducted on the premises. However, the VIP stage was set up only two to three days prior to the incident and no NOC was issued since the pandals and the stage are temporary structures.

Said DCP Deo: “They had asked for permission but it was only for loudspeaker use. While we denied it, we can’t stop the event because the congregation can’t be physically contained. So, we provided security for it.”