Moradabad: 32 people sustained burn injuries during a Muharram procession after the tazia got entangled in high tension wires and caught fire here late on Friday night. Five persons who suffered severe injuries were referred to the trauma centre at TMU medical college.The incident occurred at Mandi road under Majhola police station when the residents of Jayantipur village were going to the karbala with a tazia which was 16 feet tall. The structure caught fire after getting stuck in electricity lines. People following the tazia suffered burn injuries.Speaking to TOI, Moradabad district magistrate Rakesh Kumar Singh said, “The incident occurred due to the negligence of the people carrying the huge tazia. They had pulled the distribution power line upwards with sticks to let the tazia pass, and the distribution line touched the transmission line, which caused a blast, leading to a fire in the tazia.”“UPPCL had already stopped supply on the distribution power line at the time of the Muharram procession. But the transmission power line cannot be shut because it supplies power to the neighbouring Rampur district and Thakurdwara tehsil. Thankfully, no casualties occurred. If the inter-district transmission high-tension wire had been damaged, the situation would have been worse,” Singh added.“The additional district magistrate (city) has been instructed to investigate the incident and submit a report with details and suggestions so that in future no such tragedy will occur,” the DM said.Administrative officials have not taken any action against the officials of UPPCL and have given them a clean chit after the incident. The relatives of the injured demanded action against power department officials.The DM said, “UPPCL officials have not been found guilty of negligence. They had shut down supply to distribution line according to instructions they had received. No action will be taken against them.”

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