Boy killed as dais collapses at meet
A makeshift dais used by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his ally Ram Vilas Paswan of the LJP to address a public meeting brought death for a 10-year-old boy trapped under it as it collapsed with the weight of people scrambling to see the two leaders’ helicopter on Wednesday.
The incident at Kochas in Bihar’s south-western Rohtas district was a tragedy resulting both from the craze in the state’s rural folks for a glimpse of the helicopters and the sheer lack of attention for crowd management usually seen at the RJD-LJP’s public meetings. Another child also received injuries in the dais collapse. He was admitted to a nearby hospital and said to be recovering.
Soon after Mr Yadav and Mr Paswan left the dais, from which they jointly addressed a large crowd, to enter a helicopter readying to take off nearby, hundreds of people climbed on the dais to be able to have a better view of the copter’s takeoff. The makeshift dais, from which Congress leader Mohammad Azharuddin had addressed an election meeting a day ago, collapsed under the weight of so many impatient feet.
The dead boy was discovered in a profusely bleeding state minutes after Mr Yadav and Mr Paswan flew away. Sources said the boy, whose name was yet to be confirmed, had been instantly crushed to death. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him as dead before arrival. This was the third incident of a campaign dais of the RJD chief collapsing this election season.
There were only minor injuries to some people in the previous two incidents.
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