KOLKATA (Web Desk) - At least 19 people were killed and two dozen more injured Saturday in eastern India after a stampede that occurred during sudden rainfall at a Hindu religious gathering, officials and Indian media said.
West Bengal’s Chief Minister Suvendhu Adhikari told reporters the fatalities included a seven-year-old girl, adding that 25 other people were injured outside a pavilion “in a stampede” at the Hindu festival of Durga Puja in the city of Kolkata.
“Six bodies have so far been identified,” Adhikari said. A senior police official at the scene told AFP an announcement caused “commotion” after it started raining at night and the “crowd waiting outside the pandal (pavilion) was pushing, pulling and rushing forward and fell on the ground, leading to the stampede.”
Afterwards medics were seen moving injured people on stretchers, including a police officer, into a local hospital. Several relatives of victims cried and held one another as they mourned the loss of loved ones.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the tragedy in a short statement on Facebook. “The stampede in Kolkata is saddening. Condolences to the bereaved families. Wishing the injured a speedy recovery,” he wrote.
“The West Bengal Government is providing all possible help to the affected families.” Adhikari originally announced 17 fatalities.