Dharmapuri: Two persons were killed and four others grievously injured when a huge chariot of a temple collapsed on the devotees during the annual festival in Papparapatti in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu. The deceased were identified as Manoharan (57) and Saravanan (50).

The incident occured when the decorated chariot of Kaliyamman temple in Mathe Halli near Papparapatti was being taken around the streets during the Vaikasi festival. A large crowd had gathered in the vicinity of the temple as the festival was being held after a gap of two years due to the Covid-19 situation.

“The chariot overturned all of a sudden and two men who got caught under the chariot's wooden wheel died,” a senior police officer.

When the chariot was being pulled by the devotees through its usual route, one of the axles of the chariot broke and the chariot collapsed on the crowd. Nearly 10 persons got caught under the chariot and they were pulled out by the villagers.

The injured have been admitted to Dharmapuri government hospital. Four injured persons are undergoing treatment at the hospital while four others were discharged after providing the first aid treatment.

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Meanwhile, the Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased. In a statement in Chennai, he said four persons have been injured in the accident and were undergoing treatment at the Dharmapuri Government Medical College Hospital.

The state government has provided ex-gratia to the families of the two men who were killed, and Stalin also announced a sum of Rs 50,000 each for the injured persons from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund (CMPRF).