At least 15 people were killed in Ganesh immersion-related incidents across Maharashtra on Thursday night and Friday morning, while 40 people — including 20 children–were injured when they were attacked by a swarm of bees during the Ganpati immersion procession at Khamgaon in Buldhana district of eastern Maharashtra.
The Ganpati immersion proceedings, which had begun late on Thursday afternoon, went on till Friday morning in many parts of the State, including Mumbai and Pune.
Among the prominent idols of the elephant-headed God that were immersed in the Arabian Sea off the Girgaum Chowpatty the early hours of Friday were: the lalbaug Cha Raja and Mumbai cha Raja of Ganesh Gully in south-central Mumbai. like every year, the immersions went on till the morning in Pune, where the Ganesha idols of Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati Temple in Pune and the Bhau Rangari Ganpati were among the idols that were immersed last.
Nashik district accounted for a maximum of seven deaths in Ganesh immersion-related incidents. While an Army man Sandeep Shirsat, and his friend, S Rameshwar drowned in a pond in Musalgaon during the immersion, five others — Nilesh Patil, Bhushan Kasbe, Sumit Pawar, Amol Patil and Roshan Salve – were killed in immersion-related mishaps in other parts of the district.
In a freak mishap witnessed in Mumbai, 25-year-old Amit Debolkar was injured when a spear attached with Ganesh idol fell on his head at Girgaum chowpatty in south Mumbai.