About 30 people suffered injuries when the gallery of a stadium hosting a Kabaddi match collapsed at the Suryapet district of Telangana on Monday evening. Police say the cause of the accident is suspected to be a weak structure and those injured have been shifted to hospitals.
According to the police, the accident took place sometime past 7 pm during the inauguration ceremony for Guntakandla Savithramma Memorial’s 47th Junior National Kabaddi championship 2021 held annually for boys and girls. The event was organised by the Telangana Kabaddi Association and Kabaddi Association of Suryapet district. The police are unsure about how many people were present at the stadium at the time of the accident.
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From the video footage of the accident, the gallery where several spectators were seated could be seen falling towards an unsuspecting crowd. The gallery stand appears to be made of wood and subsequent video footages show a chaotic situation with several bystanders trying to remove the large pile of wood to free those trapped underneath.
The Superintendent of Police for Suryapet, R Bhaskaran, told TNM that, so far no deaths have been reported from the accident site. “About 25 to 30 people have been injured and about 4 to 5 people have been grievously injured. No deaths have been reported at some suffering fractured bones. All the people trapped underneath the rubble of wood have been shifted to Suryapet government hospital and other hospitals nearby. We suspect that the structure was weak and gave away during the tournament, the exact cause is yet to be known, “ said the officer.
Police say they will soon begin an enquiry into the accident.
The Telangana Minister for Energy G Jagdish Reddy was the chief guest for the event that began past 4 pm.