65-ft. temple car overturns at annual festival

At least 10 devotees were injured when a 65-foot wooden temple car taken out as part of an annual car festival, overturned in Kottur, a pilgrim town in Kudligi taluk of Ballari district on Tuesday evening.

The incident occurred when the tastefully decorated temple car was on its way back to its original spot after being pulled for some distance on the route as part of the Sri Guru Kottureshwar annual fair.

According to preliminary reports reaching the district headquarters, rescue operations had begun.

Though they were no casualties reported as yet, latest reports said of the 10 devotees injured, one is serious. Eight of the injured were taken to the government hospital in Davangere and the other two injured were admitted to the government hospital in Kottur.

The reason for the temple car overturning is yet to be



ascertained.

Senior police officers have rushed to the spot and ambulances have been pressed into service.

Sri Guru Kottureshwara annual fair is one of the biggest festivals in north Karnataka. Tens of thousands of devotees from the district and from other parts of the State congregate to witness the grand event.

Information received here stated that after the temple car toppled, the devotees who had gathered in large numbers ran helter skelter causing more injuries.

Police had a tough time regulating the crowd and trying to rescue those stuck under the temple car. As a precautionary measure, power supply is cut during the car festival.

This became a hurdle to conduct a swift rescue operation.

Ramprasath Manohar, Deputy Commissioner, before rushing to Kottur, in a release, said no deaths had occurred in the Kottur incident.