Mumbai, Oct 3 (IANS): In a freak accident, three persons including a minor girl drowned in a well when a protective grill on which they were standing suddenly crashed on Tuesday, an official said here.

The incident occurred on Dixit Road in Vile Parle east during a puja celebration at the well, around 30 feet deep. Many other women and children were also present at the scene.

According to a BMC official, the protective iron grill on the 20-feet diameter well wall, on which they stood to perform the puja gave away and collapsed, hurtling several devotees into the deep water below, shortly before 7 p.m.

Locals managed to rescue at least two - a four-year-old boy and a teenaged girl - and at least one woman was suspected to be missing this evening.

The fire brigade rushed to the spot and retrieved the bodies of three victims: Madhavi V. Pandey, 49, Renu U. Yadav, 20, and a three-year-old girl, Divya.

The injured have been admitted to Cooper Hospital and the rescuers launched an operation to empty the well.