Indian wrestler Vishal Kumar Verma dies of electrocution at stadium flooded with rainwater

A national wrestler in India died in a freak incident at a stadium in the country's Jharkhand state on Tuesday (8 August). Twenty five-year-old Vishal Kumar Verma was electrocuted due to a short circuit at the Jaipal Singh Stadium that was flooded with rain water.

According to a report in The Telegraph, Verma was visiting the Jharkhand State Wrestling Association's (JSWA) office, housed in the stadium building, on Tuesday around 2pm local time (9.30am BST) when a loose wire hanging in the flooded washroom killed him.

The wrestler was spotted lying unconscious and was taken to the nearby Sadar Hospital where doctors declared him dead.

"Preliminary investigation has revealed that death was due to electrocution. Vishal was using a water pump to clear out the water when the incident took place. Faulty wiring seems to be main cause for this incident," police officer Shyamanand Mandal said.

Ganesh Jha, general manager of the state electricity board Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam (JBVNL), told the Times of India newspaper, "An executive engineer visited the site and reported that there is no fault in the power connection provided by JBVNL. However, there could be a loose connection in the building's internal electrical wiring."

Heavy rains in the past couple of weeks following the start of the rainy season had inundated the indoor stadium situated in the state capital Ranchi.

Verma was reportedly the sole breadwinner in his family. The wrestling association said it would provide an allowance of Rs 10,000 (£120.48) every month to his family until one of his four sisters got a job.

Verma started his wrestling career in 2005 and stood fourth in the last senior national wrestling championship.