Four people died and at least six were injured when a crane suddenly collapsed during a temple festival in Arakkonam in Ranipet district, late on Sunday night, police said.

The crane was used by the devotees to perambulate around the temple and a few devotees were accepting flower garlands from those who had gathered to fulfill a vow when the incident occurred, police said on Monday.

"The crane collapsed all of a sudden and three people died. Seven persons who were injured were rushed to the government hospital for treatment. And of them, one man succumbed on Monday morning," a senior police official said.

The dead have been identified as S Bhoopalan (40), B Jothibabu (17), K Muthukumar (39) and Chinnasamy (60).

The Mayilerum thiruvizha event at the Droupadiamman and Mandiamman temples at Kezhaveethi, Nemelli, in Arakkonam near here, is an annual ritual held after the harvest festival (Pongal).

In the video of the mishap, which went viral, people were seen screaming and running helter-skelter, as the crane hit the ground. Some of the onlookers who recovered from the shock rushed to the help of the injured and shifted them to hospital with the help of the police.

Nemelli police have detained the crane operator in connection with the accident.

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