The Kolkata Durga Puja stampede has killed 19 people, including 13 females and eight minors, after a crowd surge at the Chorbagan Sarbajanin Durga Puja pandal on Saturday evening, October 17, according to a list of deceased persons shared by the police and reported by The Hindu.
The victims included five girls and three boys. The youngest were a 13-year-old boy from Agarpara in North 24 Parganas and a 14-year-old boy from Purba Bardhaman. Several young women also died, including two 17-year-olds and two 18-year-olds. The oldest victims were 66-year-old Bikash Bhattacharya from Salkia in Howrah and 59-year-old Dilip Ghosh from Baranagar in North 24 Parganas.
The deceased came from several districts, underlining the scale of travel to Kolkata’s Durga Puja celebrations. Seven victims were from North 24 Parganas, while one each was from South 24 Parganas and Nadia. Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah and Purba Bardhaman accounted for two victims each. Two relatives from Muzaffarpur in neighbouring Bihar also died.
Families gathered outside a mortuary in the northern part of Kolkata on Sunday while post-mortem procedures were completed and the bodies were handed over. Hearse vans waited outside to transport the victims to their homes. Several relatives described receiving calls that family members had been taken to hospital before learning that they had died.
The incident occurred after large numbers of people reportedly entered the pandal to shelter from rain. Early reports said a misleading announcement warned that the structure could collapse and asked people to leave, triggering panic and a stampede. Kolkata Police said circumstantial evidence, along with accounts from local residents and eyewitnesses, suggested that inadequate crowd control contributed to the incident. Police have initiated an investigation.
Locals also alleged that police deployment at the pandal was inadequate and that personnel were concentrated mainly near the VIP entrance. These claims remain part of the ongoing inquiry. The incident site was visited by spectators on Sunday, leading to altercations with police volunteers who were attempting to restrict access while the investigation continued.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said new crowd-management guidelines would be prepared following what he described as the lesson from the tragedy. He also said he would visit the homes of the deceased in the coming days and that precautions would be taken to ensure dignity during the handover of bodies. State Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee and Minister Tapas Ray visited bereaved families and paid their respects.
