16 kids suffer burn injuries during Shiv baraat in Rajasthan's Kota

KOTA: At least 18 people, including 16 children and a woman, sustained severe burn injuries after getting electrocuted in a Mahashivratri procession at Sakatpura area in Kota on Friday.
The mishap occurred around noon when one of the boys in Shiv baraat, holding aloft a flag with a 22-foot iron rod, touched a high-tension overhead wire, SP Amrita Duhan told TOI.
Four more boys got electrocuted when they rushed to save him. Chaos ensued and some women in the procession dropped pots of water they were carrying on their head, which increased the number of people injured.
All injured — 16 children, a 28-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman — were admitted to the emergency and burns ward of nearby MBS Hospital. Later, five children, between 8 and 13 years, were referred to SMS Hospital in Jaipur. One of them sustained 100% burn injury, Duhan said.
Arvind Bhardwaj, SHO at Kunhari police station, said organisers had not taken prior permission for the procession.