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Two devotees were crushed to death beneath the massive wheel of a temple chariot during the chariot festival of the famous Jambukeswarar- Akilandeswari Temple in Thiruvanaikaval in Tiruchy on Tuesday morning.

In the melee Indrani (55) was pushed and fell below the chariot. Vijayan (53) who tried to pull her out also lost his balance and fell over her even as the chariot pulled by a tractor lurched forward crushing them both.

A man who tried to rescue a woman pushed beneath the chariot’s wheel was crushed along with the woman. Another person whose leg was severed by the wheel has been hopsitalised in a critical condition.

In spite of the heavy police bandobast the massive rush of people made crowd control difficult.

Since the tractor driver was unaware of the accident he kept driving the vehicle by when a few more people had been fallen beneath the chariot in which the leg of one Damodaran got severed and his condition is said to be critical. Another six people with injuries have also been hospitalised. 

The chariot’s journey, which got halted for an hour, resumed and was completed after performing a small puja. “It’s a tragedy which could have been averted,” mournfully admitted Tiruchy District Collector Aashish Vachani.