At least three devotees, in their 20s, were electrocuted and 28 injured when electric wires used for tapping power illegally fell on a Durga Puja marquee in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur district early on Monday, an official said.
The wires snapped at around 12.30 a.m. in the pandal put up at the Dharamshala crossing, some 300 km from here.
"The injured are being treated at the district hospital and several nursing homes. Most of them are out of danger," District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar told the media.
The electric wire that snapped fell on the iron pipes used in the marquee that came in contact with the devotees.
According to police, the organizer, a businessman was absconding.
"Though there was a generator at the site, at the behest of the organiser the electricity drawn at the pandal was being illegally tapped," a senior police official told the media.