Kolkata stampede: Initial probe suggests sudden rain, misleading announcement, lapses in crowd management

Kolkata, October 18 (IANS): An initial probe into the stampede at the community Durga Puja pandal in North Kolkata, which claimed 19 lives, has revealed that a combination of three factors, namely sudden rains, a misleading announcement and severe lapses within the pandal premises, triggered the chaos leading to such a tragedy.“Sudden rains surely played a role in the tragedy because the people waiting outside tried to rush inside the pandal premises to avoid getting wet, while those who were already within the pandal refused to exit because of the same reason. However, that cannot be an excuse on the part of the puja organisers since there were severe lapses on their part which also triggered the chaos,” said a senior official of the Kolkata Police.According to him, when the rain-related chaos started surfacing, a misleading announcement asked people to evacuate the pandal immediately for fear of the structure collapsing. This announcement, according to the city police officers, triggered further panic among those present on the pandal premises, and they tried to rush out, with some even moving towards the entry gate to exit, ultimately leading to the stampede and a tragedy of such magnitude.He also said that the circumstantial evidence and statements from local residents and eyewitnesses suggested that inadequate crowd-control measures on the pandal premises on Saturday evening played a major role in the unfortunate incident.The investigating team also found that the number of police personnel and private security guards at the scene was far less than required, further complicating the situation.Already, the police have arrested seven people in this connection, including top official Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja committee, persons in charge of crowd management and security within the pandal premises. Sections for culpable homicide under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 have been slapped on them.Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who came to Kolkata on Saturday night, cancelled all his Puja-related schedules for Sunday and instead went to a private hospital in the city where 14 injured people were admitted. He enquired about their health conditions. However, he did not speak to the media about the incident.It is learnt that barring one individual, the conditions of 14 other persons admitted to the private hospital are more or less stable and out of danger.