Mumbai Dahi Handi 2026 festivities: Seven-year-old killed after brick column collapses in Malad

While the children were attempting to break the handi, the brick column collapsed, injuring a seven-year-old boy. Representational pic/Ashish Raje

A seven-year-old boy was killed after a brick column of a ground-floor structure collapsed on him during a local Dahi Handi celebration in Malvani, Malad West, on Saturday afternoon, officials said.

The incident was reported around 3.01 pm at Ekta Welfare Society, Room No 23, in Chikuwadi, Malvani, along Marve Road.

According to officials, children were celebrating Dahi Handi 2026 on their own when the incident occurred. The rope holding the handi had been tied between a tree and a brick column of the ground-floor structure. While the children were attempting to break the handi, the brick column collapsed, injuring a seven-year-old boy, identified as Rudra Kadam, on the head.

Kadam was immediately shifted to Malvani General Hospital for treatment. However, hospital authorities later informed officials that he was declared brought dead.

Ward staff and police were mobilised following the incident. Further details are awaited.

Pune woman crushed to death as temporary iron structure collapses; 32 govindas injured in Mumbai

A 45-year-old woman was crushed to death under an iron structure in Pune, while 32 govindas sustained injuries during Dahi Handi celebrations in Mumbai, officials said on Saturday.

Salma Salauddin Pathan, a resident of Old Sangavi in Pimpri Chinchwad, died after a temporary iron structure constructed for a Dahi Handi event collapsed on her while it was being dismantled on Friday night, police told news agency PTI.

Workers were dismantling the structure after the event organised by the Vighnaharta Mandal had concluded when a heavy portion fell on Pathan. She sustained a serious head injury and was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared her dead, they said.

Pathan's son was an office-bearer of the organising mandal. Her family declined to lodge a complaint against the organisers and urged the police not to register a case on their own, police said.

An accidental death report has been registered, and police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the collapse of the structure, an official said.

Meanwhile in Mumbai, 32 govindas who participated in human pyramids during the Dahi Handi 2026 celebrations sustained injuries, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a press release.