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Night storm wreaks havoc at Deepavali bazaar

People were screaming and glass was shattering. Strong winds and heavy rain wreaked havoc on the Deepavali Bazaar at Little India on Tuesday night, bringing an abrupt end to the first day of the annual event.

Many stall holders at the bazaar were forced to abandon their goods and flee the tentage, which collapsed after strong winds started blowing at 11:45pm.

One of them was bridal shop owner Luvreen Shereen, who had one out of four stalls she rented destroyed by the storm.

The 25-year-old told Yahoo! Singapore the stalls around the centre of the bazaar was most badly affected because strong winds blew away the top of the dome-shaped tent, and the scaffolding fell onto the central part of the bazaar.

"I heard screaming and glass breaking, and the lights went off. It was haywire everywhere," she recalled, shaken by the encounter.

Thankfully, the stalls were closing and not many people were around, she said, adding that there were no injuries as everyone managed to escape in time.

The bazaar, located in front of Mustafa Centre, was supposed to run from Tuesday to 25 October, the eve of Deepavali.

Shereen, who took four days to set up her stalls, said the management told her it would take three to four days before the bazaar can be back up and running. At 2pm on Wednesday, workers were seen clearing the area.

She estimated her damages to be at least $15,000. Her three wedding gowns on display, each worth $3,000, were drenched by the rain. Carpets, decoration and pictures on display were also destroyed.

Shereen said that the person-in-charge of the bazaar, known only as Ivan, took care of the stall holders very well and coordinated with authorities to allow stall holders in to retrieve their goods.

But Stomp user sonu, whose father was one of the vendors, posted on the website, "We are trying to contact the organiser for compensation, but he is not saying anything."

The annual Deepavali Bazaar is organised by the Hindu Endowments Board (HEB). Yahoo! Singapore is currently awaiting HEB's response to email queries sent to them this afternoon.