Deadly Stampede at Kolkata Durga Puja Pandal Kills 19, Mostly Women and Children

A festive evening turned into tragedy at a Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on Saturday, when a stampede triggered by heavy rain killed 19 people — most of them women and children — and injured 25 others. The disaster struck around 7:30 pm at the crowded Chorbagan Sarbojanin pandal on Maha Saptami, the seventh day of the 10-day festival, when an exit gate collapsed under the pressure of the surging crowd.

A 49-second video shot by a bystander shows people packed shoulder-to-shoulder in a narrow, low-roof, barricaded passage, crying for help as the crush built up. Officials said 13 of the 19 dead were women, including two minors, and 17 victims died on the spot. Of the 25 injured, one remains in critical condition.

Police have arrested seven people, including the puja committee’s secretary Raj Kumar Sewda and vice-president Santanu Dubey, the contractor behind the bamboo structure, crowd controllers and private security staff. A suo motu case has been filed for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced Rs 25 lakh compensation for each victim’s family plus a government job for one eligible member, and ordered a probe by a Special Investigation Team headed by a sitting Calcutta High Court judge. Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences as the state rolled out an 11-point crowd-safety advisory for the remaining festival days.

Source: Full story

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