In the wake of the tragic train accident that left 61 people dead in Amritsar during the Dussehra celebrations, the organiser of the event has shared a video on Monday, October 22.
In the video, Saurabh Madan Mitho said that he took permission to host the event and had also alerted the crowd multiple times to stay away from the railway tracks.
The organiser can be seen crying and pleading people not to blame him for the mishap which took place in Amritsar during the Dushhera celebration.
"I had organised the function to get everyone together. We took all permissions... we had 20 feet space around the Ravan effigy. There was no lapse from my side, we had 100 policemen at the site, a fire brigade vehicle and water tankers were there at the spot. The programme was held within the boundary of the Dhobi ghat ground, not on the (railway) lines... we hadn't put chairs on the railways lines," Madan was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times, as per the video.
"The train suddenly came.. it was fate. We had already made 7-10 announcements asking people not to stand on the railway lines," he added.
The unfortunate accident took place when people in Amritsar had gone to celebrate Dussehra on Friday evening. The speeding train had rammed into at least 61 people and around 77 were critically injured.
A few locals had also blamed Congress minister Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur, the chief guest of the celebration, claiming that her late arrival delayed the burning of Ravana's effigy by more than half an hour.
Here is the video that Saurabh Madan Mitho had shared.
Organizer of Dusshera event Saurabh Madan Mithoo releases video message,says ' Had taken all permissions,had alerted crowd atleast 10 times to not stand on tracks. I am extremely pained by the incident. Some ppl are trying to defame me' #Amritsartrainaccident (location: unknown) pic.twitter.com/viPXBws3P8
— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2018
