During a wedding ceremony in India, at least 13 wedding guests, including a baby, drowned after slipping down a well.
The victims were sitting on a metal slab of the well when it collapsed under their weight in a village in Uttar Pradesh yesterday, according to officials.
All of the victims were females. Around 8.30 p.m., emergency personnel were dispatched to Naurangia, Kushinager, to locate the victims, but it was too late. According to local media, ten persons were hurt in the incident.
The terrible occurrence occurred when guests were practicing a pre-wedding rite known as “haldi,” according to officials.
District Magistrate of Kushinagar, S Rajalingam told reporters that victims were aged from 35 to as young as a one-year-old, according to publication Mint.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his heartbreak over the devastating deaths and issued a statement on Twitter.
He wrote: “The accident in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh is heart-wrenching.
“I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives in this. With this, I wish the injured a speedy recovery.