An hour of rain, enough to slick the streets but not enough to keep revellers away from Durga Puja pandals on Saptami; a cramped bylane with narrow entry and exit gates; lack of crowd management and a mic announcement warning of a possible structural collapse appear to have led to Saturday’s stampede at Kolkata’s Chore Bagan, which left 19 dead.
Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to be headed by a sitting judge of the Calcutta high court, even as the Opposition alleged attempts are being made to shield the organisers, most of whom, they claimed, are from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Preliminary statements by the local police and accounts from eyewitnesses suggested that a raft of factors came together and contributed to the disaster during Kolkata’s biggest festival. Seven people have been arrested so far. There was an excessive crowd here, and they did not want to get out in the rain. When we heard about this incident, we immediately came here. The police administration had full arrangements here, and they fully cooperated. The local civil volunteers were also present. Our local MLA is also here and is fully engaged in making arrangements and ensuring treatment for them at the medical hospital. The incident occurred as the people wanted to avoid the rain to save themselves and their children. Visuals from the spot show both the gates and the approach road to the pandal are narrow, which may have contributed to the accident. A police officer also admitted the narrow approach road may have led to the accident. Both the gates and the approach road were narrow, which contributed to the accident,” the officer was quoted as saying by PTI.
“This tragic incident occurred due to continuous rainfall. “Due to the mismanagement, people tried to escape through the entrance gate during the stampede.
Speaking to ANI, eyewitness Vinay Kumar said despite the police administration being present at the site, the crowd became difficult to manage amid the sudden rush. The police administration was fully functional, but the crowd could not be handled,” he said. Another eyewitness, Uttam, said: “We are local residents.
