Audience Gallery Collapses in Kerala, 200 injured
Guwahati: At least 200 people were injured after a makeshift audience gallery suddenly collapsed during a local football match in Malappuram district of Kerala on Saturday.
The incident took place at around 9pm in Poongod stadium Malappuram during the All-India Sevens Football Tournament.
Hundreds of people can be seen on the ground as the gallery collapses. The tournament’s organisers, as well as a number of others, hurried to the spot and attempted to save those who had been injured in the disaster.
The floodlight also fell on those attempting to avoid and evacuate the area, trapping many of them beneath it.
The injured people have been taken to a hospital for treatment. No casualties have been reported till the filing of this report.
Regional football tournaments are popular in northern district of Kerala, and the event drew tens of thousands of people.
The football event drew tens of thousands of fans, but the bamboo-framed temporary gallery was filled too full. The risk had escalated as a result of the rain that had been falling for almost two days.
As per the preliminary investigations, the makeshift gallery collapsed due to weather and overcrowding in the stadium.