Stuntman plunges to death, actress injured at mall opening

Greater Noida, April 7 (IANS) A stuntman rappelling down a 60-foot building plunged to his death as people watched in horror while at the same time another stunt went wrong when a jeep carrying Bollywood actress Sayali Bhagat turned turtle during a mall inaugural event in Greater Noida Saturday.

According to police, the accidents occurred at the Great Adventure Mall situated opposite Gautam Buddha University in the Kasna area of Greater Noida, near the national capital.

In keeping with the name of the mall, its promoters, EMR Infrastructure had planned some special stunt events on the opening day.

Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai was the chief guest at the inauguration, but he left after inaugurating the mall around 11 a.m.

The stunt events began after the inauguration programme was over.

In the first incident which occurred around 3 p.m., stuntman Shailendra Singh Bisht, 30, was rappelling down the glass-walled mall when he lost his grip on the rope after crossing more than half way to the bottom and fell to his death from a height of 40 feet.

Bisht sustained multiple injuries and died on the spot.

A native of Chinkot village in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district, Bisht was part of an adventure group that was performing at the mall.

'When Shailendra was enacting the stunt, he lost his grip on the rope and fell to the ground. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was declared brought dead,' said Gajendra Singh, spokesperson for the senior superintendent of police (Gautam Budh Nagar).

'We had organised this sport - rappelling - in which expert mountaineering trainers come down using a rope from a height. Bisht was an expert trainer and had performed in the morning show in front of Subodh Kant Sahai. It was all perfect then,' said Manish, an executive of Tourism Worx, the company that organised the event.

The police spokesperson said that another stunt being performed in a jeep driven by Sayali Bhagat went wrong.

'The jeep turned turtle during the show due to which Sayali Bhagat sustained a fracture of her right arm,' he said.

Sayali was rushed to hospital from where she was discharged after a few hours.

'She was travelling in a remote-controlled car which turned more than it should have. She suffered a hairline fracture,' said Manish.

Sources in the mall revealed that the organisers had intimated the administration about the programme but did not seek any permission to hold high-risk adventure games.

Superintendent of Police (Rural) Ashok Kumar said: 'They had sought permission from the administration but the nature of the permission has to be seen. Whether it included permission for these kinds of games too is being investigated.'