On Saturday, October 17th, a stampede occurred during a Hindu festival celebration in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal in eastern India, resulting in at least 19 fatalities and around 35 people injured.
According to India Today, the accident happened around 7:40 p.m. local time when the crowd was dense and it was raining at the scene. Kolkata police reported that approximately 35 individuals were rushed to hospitals for treatment. Further details of the incident are still being investigated.
After the stampede, the General Secretary of the festival organizing committee, Jayanta Banerjee, has resigned from his position, and all other responsible members of the committee have also confirmed their resignation following the incident.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari stated that among the deceased was a 7-year-old girl. The identities of six of the victims have been confirmed.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi labeled the incident as a “tragic” event and mentioned that the local government is providing assistance to the affected families.
A senior police officer informed Agence France-Presse that a notice issued at the scene after the rain started led to the chaos among the crowd. People began pushing, shoving, and crowding forward, causing some individuals to fall and resulting in the stampede.
A witness told the Asian News International that during the crowded pushing, several people lost consciousness, and some were later carried away from the scene on motorcycles.
“I witnessed these situations continuously happening around me – people fainting and being carried away on motorcycles. There was a lot going on at the scene, and the crowd was very congested,” the witness said.
In India, due to poor management and lack of adequate safety measures, incidents of mass casualties (including those occurring during religious festival periods) are not uncommon. Two years ago, a stampede at an Indian Hindu religious gathering in the state of Uttar Pradesh resulted in 121 fatalities.