Pune Tragedy: Marine Engineering Student Dies After Basketball Pole Collapses on Him at Tolani Institute

A tragic incident took place in Pune on Sunday morning, April 5, after a second-year Marine Engineering student died after a basketball pole collapsed on him during a jogging activity, according to the news agency IANS, quoting a police officer.

Pune Police inspector, Santosh Patil, said that the incident occurred when the deceased, identified as Vishal Verma, a second-year student at Tolani Maritime Institute, was going for his morning jogging activity towards his hostel when he reached the basketball ground. He was rushed to the hospital, where he tragically passed away.

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Vishal was doing pull-ups by hanging on the basketball hoop when the whole rusted pole gaveaway and fell on his head, resulting in serious head injuries as he was bleeding heavily, according to an NDTV report. A fellow student noticed the incident and rushed him to a hospital, but unfortunately, the doctors declared him dead.  

Who Was Vishal Verma?

Vishal Verma was from Uttar Pradesh's Basti and was pursuing marine engineering from Tolani Institute in Pune. According to his LinkedIn profile, he joined the institute in 2024 and his four-year B.Tech course was to end in 2028.

Tolani Maritime Institute principal Dr Sanjeet Kanungo said, "A young man lost his life. He was trying to do pull-ups using the basketball hoop when the whole frame collapsed on him and he suffered serious injuries to his forehead. We will investigate what went wrong".

Police said investigation into the incident has been initiated whether the frame was rusty or there was a major defect in the fittings.