KOLKATA, India — Police in Kolkata have formally arrested seven people over a crush at a crowded Durga Puja pavilion that killed at least 19 people on Saturday evening, DW reported, citing Indian media, as authorities imposed restrictions around the site.
The crush happened at about 7:40 p.m. at the exit gate of the Chorbagan (Sarada Park) pandal in north Kolkata “due to heavy crowds of pandal visitors amid rain,” Kolkata Police said. Witnesses said sudden rainfall sent people surging to find shelter, BBC News reported.
“As of now, 19 people have died, and 25 are undergoing treatment,” West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said, according to The Hindu BusinessLine. A seven-year-old girl was among the dead. Adhikari said an announcement on the organizers’ loudspeaker set off the rush, while relatives of two victims said security guards blowing whistles triggered it.
Police detained 12 people overnight, including the pandal’s organizers, private security guards and on-duty staff. “Nobody will be spared,” Adhikari said, vowing action against anyone who failed to manage the crowd. His government will pay Rs 25 lakh and offer a government job to the family of each person killed, and the pandal has been closed, BusinessLine reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a “tragic” incident. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in Kolkata for festival events, postponed his programs and was set to visit victims’ families on Sunday, DW said.
Durga Puja is West Bengal’s largest annual Hindu festival. Deadly crowd crushes at religious gatherings are not uncommon in India; two years ago, 121 people were killed at a Hindu religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh, the BBC noted.
Sources: BBC News, DW, The Hindu BusinessLine
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