A crowd accident at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata reportedly killed 19 people on Saturday evening, after part of the pandal collapsed and visitors were crushed during a period of severe congestion. The incident occurred during Maha Saptami, after the installation had drawn large crowds from across West Bengal and other states following the circulation of videos showing its distinctive lighting and design.
Artist Sushanta Shibani Pal, who designed the Chorbagan pandal and idol, expressed regret over the incident and said the organisers had anticipated difficulties because of the size of the crowd. According to a report by Sangbad Pratidin, he said visitors were spending extended periods inside the pandal while making reels, increasing pressure on the movement of people through the installation.
Pal said he had discussed the crowd situation with club officials before the accident. He also said that additional lighting had been installed in darker sections of the pandal after the organisers sensed that the conditions could become unsafe. The extra lighting, however, did not prevent the fatal incident, according to the report.
The Chorbagan puja had attracted attention from the beginning of the festival. Videos of the pandal were widely circulated, and visitors travelled from different parts of West Bengal as well as from outside the state. The resulting footfall created sustained pressure inside and outside the installation, with people waiting outside becoming impatient as visitors remained inside for longer periods.
The artist said repeated announcements had asked visitors not to stay inside the pandal for excessive periods. He attributed the congestion to the unusually large crowd and what he described as a lack of awareness among some visitors. He also said that attempts to record reels in the middle of the crowd may have contributed to pushing and disruption.
The account places crowd circulation, visitor dwell time, lighting and the management of high-demand public installations at the centre of the incident. The report does not provide details of the emergency response, the identities of those killed, the number of injured people or any official findings on the collapse and subsequent crowd movement. It also does not establish whether the lighting, the pandal structure or crowd behaviour was formally identified as the cause.
The incident follows a sharp increase in visitor interest after the pandal became widely known online. With the report stating that organisers had already recognised the risk of overcrowding, the immediate official focus is expected to remain on establishing how the crowd was managed, what caused the pandal section to fail and whether safety arrangements were adequate for the volume of visitors. Further details will depend on statements from the authorities investigating the deaths.
