Two Killed, Four Injured in Electrocution Near Lalbaug Ganapati Pandal

Two people, including an eight-year-old girl, were killed and four others injured in an electrocution incident near a Ganapati pandal in Mumbai's Lalbaug area in the early hours of Sunday.

The incident took place around 2:20 am near the Kalachowki Vibhag Sarvajanik Ustav Mandal on Dattaram Lad Marg in Kalachowki, at a time when the Lalbaug area was drawing large crowds for the ongoing Ganapati festival.

Civic officials said the Mumbai Fire Brigade was alerted at 2:42 am, after which fire brigade personnel, police, BEST staff and civic ward office teams were rushed to the spot.

Five of the injured were taken to Masina Hospital in Byculla, while others were shifted to Global Hospital in Parel. At Masina Hospital, eight-year-old Raghni Ghanshyam Yadav was declared brought dead. A second death was confirmed later, with officials saying a woman at Global Hospital had also succumbed to her injuries. Her identity and other details were awaited.

Those undergoing treatment include Kiran Akbar Naik, 19, Tanvi Narsh Hande, 19, Sahil Sandip Tare, 19, and Ruhi Singh, 12. Their conditions were not immediately known.

Separately, a 25-year-old man from Pune died after suffering a heart attack while sitting with friends near the Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh pandal on Thursday. Jaydeep Meghraj Nemade felt sudden discomfort in his chest while sitting outside a building next to the pandal, an official said. Office-bearers of the Lalbaug Ganeshotsav Mandal rushed him in an ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he died during treatment. The Kalachowki police station has registered an accidental death report, and family members have not raised any complaints or suspicions of foul play.

The Lalbaugcha Raja Ganapati idol has been cared for by the Kambli family for more than eight decades. The idol is the centrepiece of the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal at Putlabai Chawl, a place of worship established in 1934.