BHOPAL: Two persons were killed and three sustained injuries after a tree got uprooted due to the rain and fell on a shop on Saturday. The incident occurred at the Bhopal Talkies Square in the evening.
The deceased were identified as Hasib, 22, and Hassu, 28. The local residents managed to bring the victims out, but Hasib had died by then. The injured were taken to hospital with help of a 108-ambulance. Hassuís body was later brought out with the help of machines of the civic body.
All the top officials, including collector Avinash Lavania and deputy inspector-general (DIG) Irshad Wali, reached the spot. The large tamarind (imli) tree had several huge branches and, due to the wind coupled with rain, it got uprooted and fell on the shop around 5 pm. The tree was one of several inside the Saifia graveyard. When the tree fell, customers of the shop were inside.
The shop is located at the boundary wall of the graveyard and it crashed in on the victims after the tree fell on it.
A few of them ran away, while five remained trapped. The onlookers saved one of the injured and informed the police. Cops from the Shahjahanabad police station rushed to the scene and began a rescue operation.
The other customers and employees of the shop ran away and saved themselves. The locals also informed Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), but the teams reached after a considerable delay as there were several other complaints of trees falling in Bhopal on the day.
The police and BMC teams brought out Hassu, who was declared dead in the hospital. Hasib was recently married, said a resident of the area. The district administration will provide an ex gratia relief of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of the deceased.
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