18 die during Ganesh immersion in India

At least 18 people have died, mostly due to drowning, while immersing the idols of Hindu god Ganesh after the end of the 30-hour ceremony in India.

The incidents took place on Monday in parts of Maharashtra on the last day of the Ganesh festival, officials said.

Sunday was 'Anant Chaturdashi' - or the final day of the 11-day festival which started on 'Ganesh Chaturthi' on Sep 13 and which witnessed the maximum number of gigantic idols worshipped at 'sarvajanik mandals', reports NDTV.

Thousands of idols were taken out in processions with devotees dancing and raising cries. The idols were lowered into the Arabian Sea, creeks, rivers, lakes, ponds, wells, artificial tanks and other water bodies.

In the past 24 hours, one person drowned in Bhandup, eastern Mumbai, while four deaths were reported from Pune, three each in Ratnagiri and Jalna, two each in Bhandara and Satara and one each in Nanded, Buldhana and Ahmednagar, according to the report.

Devotees carry an idol of Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, during a procession on the last day of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, before immersing the idol into the Arabian sea, in Mumbai, India, Sep 23, 2018. REUTERS

In a freak incident, at least five persons including three girls were rescued when they fell in the sea water at Girgaum Chowpatty on Monday morning when their overloaded boat overturned during the immersion ceremony.

Teams of fire brigade and BMC swimmers immediately rescued them from the water and rushed them to Nair Hospital where they are reported out of danger.

Another 17 persons were injured when a large idol of the elephant-headed god tripped and fell on them during immersion ceremonies in Kandivali suburb, in northwest Mumbai. Their condition was described as stable.

A BMC official said 843 gigantic idols and nearly 33,700 household idols, ranging from a few inches to several feet, were immersed on Monday.

During the past few phases of immersion in the festive season, another 241,000 big, medium and small idols were immersed, besides an estimated 800,000 in the rest of Maharashtra, drawing the curtains on the state's biggest public festival.

The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corp had made special arrangements for viewing the colourful immersion by Indian and foreign tourists from the US, Europe, neighbouring countries and other parts of the world, at Girgaum Chowpatty, said a spokesperson.