What was meant to be a day of celebration turned into a horrifying tragedy as a tech CEO plunged 15 feet to his death during a lavish entrance gone wrong.
The shocking incident unfolded during a celebration for Vistex Asia's silver jubilee, leaving employees and witnesses in utter shock. The event was being held at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, India.
Vistex CEO Sanjay Shah and Vistex President Vishwanath Raju Datla were taking part in an elaborate entrance plan, the New York Post reports. The pair were inside an iron cage suspended in the air, which was intended to be lowered onto the stage as a grand entrance for the company party.
However, tragedy struck when a wire suddenly snapped, leading to a catastrophic accident.
Shocking video footage captured the horrifying moment when the yellow cage, hovering near the rafters, started to wobble as fireworks illuminated the room. As a voice implored the crowd to applaud the two bosses, the celebration quickly turned into chaos.
The cage rapidly tilted to one side, causing Shah and Datla to plummet 15 feet to the ground, equivalent to roughly a one-story drop. The video shows one of the men completely flipping over and landing head-first on the ground.
Tragically, Sanjay Shah lost his life in the accident, while Vishwanath Raju Datla was left in critical condition.
While the immediate cause of the accident was attributed to the snapped wire, officials are conducting a thorough investigation into the incident, including examining the cage's structure and any potential faults. The cage, which was lowered by a rolling machine and featured iron wires and grills, is a focal point of the inquiry.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Vistex was founded by Sanjay Shah in 1999, and is an advisory service company with a global presence, boasting over 20 offices worldwide and a substantial client roster that includes industry giants like GM, Yamaha, and Coca-Cola, among others.
Employees had been accommodated at Ramoji Film City in anticipation of the two-day celebration marking 25 years of the company's successful operations.
Sanjay Shah, aged 56, originally hailed from Mumbai and relocated to the United States at the age of 17. He accomplished his MBA degree from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania at the remarkable age of 21. In 2017, he made a substantial donation of $5 million to establish the Vistex Institute for Executive Education at the university.
Known for his philanthropic endeavors, Shah established the Vistex Foundation, which provides grants to non-profit organizations primarily focused on health, education, and essential needs programming.
In a commendable move, in 2020, Sanjay Shah inaugurated the Vistex Hospital in Bihar, India, which quickly gained recognition as a national model Covid facility, serving as a testament to his commitment to public welfare.
Our thoughts are with Shah's family and loved ones at this time, as well as anybody else impacted by this tragedy.
