According to India Today, a stampede accident occurred at an Hindu festival event in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, India, on the evening of October 17 local time. At least 19 people were killed and 35 were injured.
The stampede accident occurred around 7:40 p.m. on the 17th. At that time, the scene was crowded, and it also encountered rainfall. Reports indicate that some of the temporarily built celebration venues collapsed due to overcrowding.
According to the Calcutta police, the stampede occurred at the exit of a Durga Goddess festival celebration venue in the Chorbagan area of northern Calcutta. At that time, a large number of devotees gathered at the scene.
A witness said that both the entrance and exit to the celebration venue were very narrow, and there was also a lack of proper lighting facilities at the scene.
After the tragedy, Jayantha Bannaraj, the secretary-general of the Bhairavi Festival Committee, resigned, and other officials of the committee also announced their resignations.
According to the 'Indian Times', West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced on the 17th that each family of the victims in the stampede accident will receive compensation of 2.5 million rupees (approximately 176,000 yuan), and each family will be provided with a government job.
Adikari stated that the state government will request the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to intervene and establish a fact-finding committee. A special task force and a forensic team will also be involved. The investigation will focus on determining the details leading to the stampede accident and identifying the responsible parties for managing the crowd at the scene.
