The announcement reportedly triggered panic and led to the stampede on Saturday evening. Over three days after 19 people were killed in Kolkata pandal stampede, the police are reportedly looking for a person who had allegedly misled revellers by announcing that a section of the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal was collapsing.
The police have not found evidence to substantiate the claim, news agency PTI quoted the police as saying. The announcement that a section of the structure was collapsing allegedly triggered panic among visitors. The mic announcement warning of a possible structural collapse is believed to be one of the reasons that led to crowd crush at the Kolkata pandal. It will collapse. Please leave” – was made inside the pandal as the crowd jostled through a narrow bylane on Saptami, the seventh day of the festival, while rain lashed the city and left the streets slippery.
Thirty cameras are installed across the premises, footage from 13 covers the area where the incident took place, according to the police.
“At present, there is no evidence to suggest that any part of the pandal was in a position to collapse,” the police officer said. The investigators are examining CCTV footage to establish the sequence of events, police said. Police said the analysis indicates that rain caused the exit point to be congested, while the entry point remained open despite the presence of a large crowd inside the pandal. Police said that there are key questions as to who made the announcement and what was the purpose. “Police have not found evidence to substantiate the claim,” the officer said. The announcement – “The condition of the pandal is very bad, according to the police.
