Stampede at a popular Hindu festival in eastern India kills 19

NEW DELHI (AP) — A stampede during a major Hindu festival in eastern India’s West Bengal state has left at least 19 people dead, officials said Sunday.

The stampede in the state capital of Kolkata happened Saturday night when a crowd near a pavilion ran for cover as it began raining during Durga Puja, an annual Hindu festival celebrating the goddess Durga. According to police, some worshippers fell on the road, triggering the stampede.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who visited Kolkata Medical College and Hospital where victims were taken, said 19 people had died and 25 were receiving treatment. He announced an investigation by a Special Investigation Team to be headed by a judge of the state’s High Court.

Police detained some pavilion organizers, private security personnel and on-duty staff, and launched a probe into any crowd-control and safety lapses.

Around 3,500 Durga Puja pavilions, known locally as pandals, have been set up across Kolkata for the festival. Following the stampede, authorities advised several of Kolkata’s most heavily attended venues to temporarily close to visitors.

Crowd crushes are relatively common in India during religious festivals, as large crowds, sometimes in the millions, gather in confined areas with few safety or crowd control measures. In January of 2025, at least 30 people were killed as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to bathe in a sacred river during the Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious gathering.

In 2013, pilgrims attending a Hindu festival at a temple in the central state of Madhya Pradesh panicked amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 people were crushed to death or drowned in the river below.