4 of family hurt as joyride overturns at Chhapar

Our Correspondent

Mandi Ahmedgarh, Sept 15

At least four members of a family were injured, one of them seriously, when a compartment of a joyride train overturned at Mela Chhapar last evening. The injured have been identified as Manvinder Kaur, Harminder Singh, Hanipreet Singh and Himanpreet Singh, all residents of Amarpura area.

The civil administration has advised the Director Factories to initiate a probe into the incident and ascertain how the organisers of the joyride stall managed to get the fitness certificate for the allegedly unsafe paraphernalia.

Meanwhile, devotees continued to throng to the fair for making merriment and paying obeisance at the Guga Mari shrine.

Executive Magistrate Joginder Singh said the administration had initiated disaster-management action immediately after receiving information about the accident. “Though the injured were shifted by the volunteers of a social welfare organisation, we coordinated with the doctors at Hind Hospital and enquired after the victims,” said Joginder Singh, maintaining that the condition of three of the injured was stable and two of them would be discharged soon.

Referring to information received from the control room, Joginder Singh said the organisers of only those joyrides were allowed to operate at the fair who had submitted fitness certificates issued by the Department of Factories.

Officials of the Department of Factories were reported to have inspected the paraphernalia at the joyride stall where the accident happened, but their observations were yet to be submitted to the higher authorities.

Dr Sunit Hind said Harminder Singh had been brought in an unconscious condition whereas the other victims had multiple injuries. The condition of Harminder was serious.