Stage collapse: one dies

A 23-year-old youth, injured when a stage set up over a swimming pool in Hotel Savera on Radhakrishnan Salai collapsed on Monday, died in a hospital in the early hours of Tuesday.
The police registered cases under IPC Sections 304 A (causing death by negligence), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt) against the stage contractor Narendra Singh, event manager of the party Antony Michael, who was arrested, and the licensee, said Joint Commissioner of Police (South) G. Dorairaj.
The victim, Sumith Agnihothri, a native of Uttar Pradesh, was employed with a software firm in the city and was a resident of Vanni Amman Koil Street, Mogappair East.
He had gone to the hotel with his cousin and a few friends to celebrate the New Year. One of the persons who accompanied him, identified as Anand of K.K. Nagar, is in serious condition.
The incident brought to fore questions about safety concerning the arrangements made for such parties. The stage, covered with a wooden plank, atop the swimming pool, caved in around 11.20 p.m. even as several hundreds of young men and women were dancing on it.
Many of them, including those in an inebriated condition, landed with a thump in the swimming pool and struggled to come out. “No trained persons were made available by the event managers to rescue the victims from the pool even after 30 minutes,” a youth said.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that poor construction of the stage led to its collapse. An officer of the Fire and Rescue Services department who visited the spot on Tuesday said that it is not clear whether the licensee had obtained the mandatory stage stability certificate from the PWD department.Inadequate support of beams on both sides of the wooden plank contributed to the tragedy.
A Forensic Sciences expert said Sumith Agnihothri’s body had external injuries in the nostril and mouth. The body has been sent for post-mortem to the Government General Hospital.
Following the incident chaos prevailed in the hotel for at least two hours with many youths demanding refund of the money from the authorities or continuation of the celebrations.
Police personnel forcibly removed a few youths from the premises with the support of the hotel staff.