About 44 people are critically injured after a tent collapsed while India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi was addressing a rally in eastern India, police say on Monday.
The Midnapore district of West Bengal state has seen heavy monsoon rains in recent days and it was drizzling when the canopy collapsed.
“The structure … came down after supporters tried to climb supporting poles to catch a better view.
“Fourty-four locals were injured, none of them is in a serious condition,” district police chief Alok Rajoria said.
Media reports said the situation had turned so chaotic that when the structure started collapsing Modi interrupted his speech to urge people to move to a safer area.
The Indian leader later visited the injured at the hospital.
Local police said they had launched an investigation into what media termed a “security lapse,” amid questions whether the event was given the go-ahead from structural engineers.
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