Photo: Tarunsamanta / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The number of people killed in Saturday evening’s stampede at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata has risen to 19, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said, as the state government ordered a judge-led investigation and a review of safety at major pandals across the state. Seventeen of the victims died at the spot, and most of the dead were women and children, according to the chief minister. Of the 25 people injured, 24 are out of danger and one remains critical.
A probe headed by a sitting judge
Adhikari said the government would write to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to nominate a sitting judge to head a Special Investigation Team. The team is to include officers from the Special Task Force, the Criminal Investigation Department and forensic experts, and will look at how the crush happened and who was responsible for managing the crowd.
Kolkata Police’s Anti-Rowdy Section has collected CCTV footage from the site. Police said 12 people, including organisers and volunteers, have been detained and are being questioned. The chief minister said no one would be spared, whether a puja committee member, a home guard, a police officer or a private security guard. The detentions do not by themselves establish who was at fault.
We will check the footage and take appropriate measures against those who failed to manage the crowd.
Suvendu Adhikari, West Bengal Chief Minister
What set off the crush
The exact sequence of events is still being established. A police officer said people queuing outside the pandal surged forward when it started to rain, and some fell on the road. Adhikari said an announcement by the organisers led to a sudden rush. One local eyewitness alleged that people panicked after a false announcement that the pandal had collapsed, and that few security personnel were present.
Compensation and a safety review
The state will pay ₹25 lakh and give a Group D government job to the family of each person who died. The injured will get ₹5 lakh each, and the state will pay for their full treatment at a hospital of their choice. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced ₹2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the family of each victim and ₹50,000 for each injured person.
A high-level committee led by Disaster Management Principal Secretary Rajesh Sinha, Fire Services Director General Anuj Sharma and Additional Director General of Police Javed Shamim will inspect major pandals for crowd control, exit routes and structural safety. Its directions include:
- wider exits, proper lighting and no bottlenecks created by temporary rope enclosures
- keeping rituals inside the inner sanctum and using LED screens outside where elaborate structures block movement
- putting visitors’ safety ahead of large themed structures
Why it matters and what comes next
Kolkata has around 3,500 community pujas, and the chief minister said about 58,000 are being held across the state. The biggest crowds of the festival are still to come on Ashtami and Navami, and some crowded theme pandals have been advised to close temporarily. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Kolkata to visit pandals, cancelled his programmes and said he would meet the injured. Adhikari also accused some people of trying to politicise the tragedy, while former chief minister Mamata Banerjee and leaders across parties expressed grief. Families looking for information can call the Kolkata Police control room on 033-2214-1310.
