It started with a spell of showers that led many restless revellers to try to enter the Chorebagan Sarbajanin Durgotsav Samity pandal, and ended in a stampede that took away 19 lives at the pandal on Saturday evening.
Metro spoke to several eyewitnesses, police officers and officials from the fire and emergency services department to learn how the tragedy unfolded.
Outside the pandal
Around 7.35pm, a drizzle turned into a shower. The crowd waiting to enter the Chorebagan pandal became restless. A makeshift channel set up on Amar Basu Sarani, a small road with a chicken’s neck in front, was packed to capacity. Several hundred waited to enter the pandal from CR Avenue.
“Some of the visitors carried small children on their heads. Others kept screaming, seeking the attention of the puja organisers so that they would be allowed to enter the pandal,” said an eyewitness.
“Some of the puja organisers were seated on a makeshift dais nearby, and some volunteers tried to pacify the crowd, refusing to brave the evening shower.”
The crowd, a few inches from the pandal’s entrance, suddenly started pushing. Everyone thought the pandal would protect them from the shower, and a slight push would help cover the distance.
“The queue outside suddenly started swaying like a wave. The bamboo barriers seemed too weak. Everyone screamed,” a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.
Inside the pandal
The Chorebagan pandal drew a huge crowd this year, with its theme, Beyond Sound, using creative lighting and spatial design to depict a journey from chaotic noise to inner silence and spiritual reflection.
The pandal stood in layers, and visitors had to take small steps to reach the sanctum sanctorum: a dimly lit arena with the idol at the centre of a circular space. A winding pathway, divided by a steel divider, led to the exit.
“A crowd stood near the exit, waiting for the shower to stop or at least turn into a drizzle, when suddenly some volunteers started blowing whistles, asking those waiting near the idol to empty the space,” the eyewitness said.
Those busy clicking pictures of the idol or making videos were forced to head to the exit, already teeming with visitors.
In the rush and panic that followed, some tripped over a small flight of steps near the exit and fell. Others fell on them, and within minutes heaps of people lay over each other.
Those who couldn’t reach the pandal’s exit gate were stranded inside as visitors bulldozed their way into the already packed pandal from the entrance.
“Unable to bear the pressure, several people fell. Others screamed for water. A few said they couldn’t breathe. The rest looked for their loved ones lying on the pandal floor,” the witnesses said.