Bengaluru: 24-year-old devotee killed, three others injured as 100-foot-tall temple chariot falls during festival

Bengaluru: A 24-year-old youngster was killed and three others sustained injuries as the chariot of 100-foot height collapsed during the annual festival of the historic Madduramma temple in Anekal taluk of Bengaluru Rural district on Saturday.

The deceased devotee is identified as Lohith, a resident of Hosur in Tamil Nadu. A 16-year-old girl is reported to be critically injured. Two other injured devotees are stable although still under treatment, police have said.

The devotees were pulling two chariots, at Chikka Nagamangala and at Rayasandra in Parappana Agrahara, towards the temple. The chariot at Chikka Nagamangala fell damaging several vehicles parked nearby. The devotees, who were also handling the ropes, escaped danger by rushing for safety.

The second 100-foot chariot toppled next, at Rayasandra. Police officers have said that the chariot toppled because of miscalculations due to bad weather, including heavy rain and strong winds in the area on Saturday.

Event organizer Rakesh, who is a resident of Hoskur, has said that this is the first case of the chariot collapsing in the 100-year history of the Madduramma Temple.

Hebbagodi Police have taken up both cases and have registered a case of death due to negligence against the organizers of the temple event. The police have stated that the organizers failed to follow necessary safety measures while pulling the chariots.

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New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday took a swipe at the "failed" US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan with an Urdu couplet, saying only god knows now what will happen.

"Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane; Na woh mane, na ye mane (only god knows what will happen now as both sides did not agree)," Tharoor said on X, tagging a post-talks video clip of US Vice President J D Vance, who led the American delegation at the negotiations in Islamabad.

The United States and Iran failed to reach a peace deal at their historic 21-hour talks in Pakistan, leaving the fate of a tenuous two-week ceasefire in doubt, with both sides attempting to hold each other responsible for the collapse of the negotiations.

Vance said the Iranian side did not accept Washington's terms for ending the war even as the US presented its "final and best offer".

Hours after the talks collapsed, US President Donald Trump said on social media that the negotiations with Tehran failed as "Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions".

Trump said the US Navy will actively interdict any vessel in international waters found to have paid tolls to Iran for transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of the Iranian negotiation team, said it is for the US to decide whether it can "earn our trust or not".

The Iranian foreign ministry, without elaborating, said the US side resorted to "excessive" and "illegal demands".

The failure to reach an agreement has dimmed the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to stabilise the global energy marke