Thanjavur: Eight men and 3 teenage boys died due to electrocution when a temple chariot came in contact with a high tension electricity wire during a procession.
The impact threw people standing on the chariot to the ground; seventeen of them were injured.
"It was all over in a matter of minutes. It took a while for us to understand that people were dead and many were injured," a local man said. Others who were part of the procession ran helterskelter.
Villagers said that the wooden temple chariot had colourful lights on the top which came into contact with the overhead electricity line. These lights were powered by a mobile generator which was tied to the rear end of the temple car which was completely gutted.
"In the mayhem, organizers could not turn the generator off,’’ pointed out a villager who witnessed the inferno.
