16 kids participating in Mahashivratri procession suffer burn injuries due to electrocution in Kota

Sixteen children and two others participating in 'Shiv Barat' on the occasion of Mahashivratri here sustained burn injuries after getting electrocuted on Friday noon, officials said.

The children, aged 10-16 years, were electrocuted from a high-tension power line passing overhead in the Sakatpura area under the Kunhari police station, they said.

A boy holding the iron rod that came in contact with the power line received 100 per cent burn injuries, while four others sustained around 40-50 per cent burn injuries, officials said.

All of them were referred to SMS Hospital in Jaipur after being initially treated at Kota's MBS Hospital. Eleven other boys and a man and a woman also sustained injuries and were under treatment in MBS Hospital, they said.

The state's Energy Minister Heeralal Nagar ordered a departmental probe into the incident.

Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma expressed his sadness over the incident and said the administration has been instructed to provide medical assistance to the injured. ''The news of 18 citizens getting burnt after coming in contact with a high tension line during the 'Shiv Barat' on the occasion of Mahashivratri in Kota is sad. It is a request to Lord Neelkanth to provide speedy recovery to the injured citizens,'' Sharma said in a post on X.

District collector Ravindra Goswami has also formed a committee headed by the sub-divisional magistrate, Kota for an administrative probe into the incident. The probe committee also has two other engineers from the Jaipur Electricity Transmission Nigam.

Kota city SP Amrita Duhan told PTI that local women with water pots on their heads and children, some of them holding flags attached to iron rods, were part of the 'Shiv Barat' for Kathaat temple in Kalibasti One of the boys in the procession was holding a 22-foot-high iron flagpole, which came in contact with a high-tension line passing overhead around noon, the SP said.

A local present at the site said when the flagpole came in contact with the power line, he was electrocuted and flung into the air. Others, in an attempt to rescue the boy, tried to pull the rod away from him but also received electric shocks, the local said.

The women carrying the pots dropped them, spilling water on the ground, leading to commotion at the spot, the local added.

At least 16 children and a 28-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman with burn injuries were admitted to the emergency and burn wards of MBS Hospital on Friday noon, superintendent Dr Dharmraj Meena said.

Five of the children, including one with 100 per cent burn injury were referred to SMS Hospital in Jaipur after primary medical care in Kota while the 13 others were under treatment in emergency and burn wards at MBS Hospital, he said.

Those referred to SMS Hospital were identified as Shugan (13), Koshal (7), Suraj (12), Annirudh (8) and Yash (10), the superintendent said.

Lok Sabha Speaker and Kota-Bundi MP Om Birla, state energy minister Heeralal Nagar, Kota district collector Ravindra Goswami, Kota city SP Amrita Duhan, former MLA Phralad Gunjal and BJP leader Chandra Kanta Meghwal visited the MBS hospital and supervised medical care to the injured.

Police have not yet received any report on the incident, however, family members of the victims, angry at the organisers of the procession, created a ruckus at the spot in Sakatpura area. The police had to intervene and pacify them, SHO at Kunhari Police Station Arvind Bhardwaj said.

The organisers had not obtained prior permission for the event from the administration, however, the police have not registered any case as no report has been received on the matter so far, Bhardwaj said Friday evening.

Meanwhile, divisional chief engineer, Jaipur Discom, GS Bairwa also ordered an on-the-spot inspection by Kota circle superintendent engineer.

In his report, the superintendent engineer noted that a 132 KV Nanta feeder line from 220 KV GSS, Sakatpura was passing through, while flags attached to the iron rods held by the children touched the high-tension line passing overhead, which caused electrocution.

''A standard height of 132 KV line stands at 6.1 metres from the surface and is mounted atop a tower. From there, it is moved to dipole, which was not on its latest structure causing one of the three conductors looming downward," Bairwa said. He added that the exact reason behind the mishap would only be clear after a report by the district collector's probe committee.