Amritsar: A tragic accident at Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj Baba Deep Singh in Amritsar left two women dead and at least seven other devotees injured on Sunday. The incident occurred when heavy iron shuttering plates detached from an under-construction langar hall and collapsed onto a crowd gathered below. The sudden collapse triggered widespread panic across the crowded shrine premises as volunteers and security personnel rushed to assist the victims.
According to statements from the gurdwara management, a significant number of pilgrims had gathered at the shrine during the morning hours for community prayers and religious recitations. Construction work to expand the community kitchen facility was actively taking place simultaneously on the upper levels. Without warning, the iron plates secured to the newly laid linter gave way, falling directly onto the female devotees who were seated on the ground level beneath the structural scaffolding.
Emergency rescue operations were initiated immediately by the shrine administration and local volunteers to pull the trapped individuals out from under the heavy metal sheets. Seven injured individuals were quickly transported to the nearby Sri Guru Ram Das Hospital for urgent medical attention. Two of the women who sustained critical trauma were later transferred to Med Card Hospital for advanced care, where medical staff confirmed that one victim remains in highly unstable condition.
While the official investigation into the exact cause of the structural failure is still underway, several eyewitnesses at the scene noted that strong, high-velocity winds had been blowing across the region since early morning, suggesting that weather conditions might have compromised the stability of the temporary construction supports. Both local police authorities and the gurdwara management board have launched independent inquiries into the incident to determine if there were any lapses in safety protocols during the execution of the expansion project.
