A woman died after a stampede at Kolkata’s Chorbagan puja pandal, according to her husband Ram Sarkar, who said it took more than an hour to arrange an ambulance after he found her motionless inside the overcrowded venue.
Sarkar, who travelled from Chakdah with his wife Arati, said they reached the pandal after visiting Santosh Mitra Square, where he found crowd movement to be better regulated. He said the couple went to Chorbagan because Arati had seen images of its interiors on social media.
The account published by the Times of India said the crowd at Chorbagan had already spilled onto Central Avenue when the couple arrived. Sarkar described the queue as poorly managed and said the situation worsened after rain began. According to his account, volunteers removed barricades as the crowd grew, apparently to prevent visitors from leaving.
Sarkar said the couple was pushed into the pandal by the crowd rather than entering under controlled movement. He described the interior as dark and densely packed, leaving people struggling to breathe. When pushing began from behind, he fell and became separated from his wife.
He said people were shouting and attempting to escape, while he was pushed and kicked by others in the crush. After regaining his footing, he searched for Arati and found several people lying on the ground. Sarkar said he could not see volunteers, police personnel or organisers coming forward to assist those affected.
He eventually found his wife lying motionless and carried her while calling for help. Sarkar said no ambulance was immediately available and that more than an hour passed before transport could be arranged. Doctors at the hospital subsequently told him that Arati had been brought dead, he said.
The account also said Sarkar was not permitted to enter the hospital to see his wife and was told to report to a police station in the morning. The report did not include an official account from the police, the organisers, the hospital or the civic administration about the incident, the death toll or the emergency response.
The incident places the management of high-footfall festival venues under scrutiny. Barricade placement, controlled entry and exit, lighting, volunteer deployment, police presence and ambulance access are all operational elements that determine whether a crowded public gathering remains manageable during sudden weather or movement changes. In this case, Sarkar’s account links the crowd surge to rain, the removal of barricades and limited access to medical assistance.
Sarkar said he and Arati had planned to spend the evening visiting pandals and having dinner in Kolkata. Instead, he said the visit became their last puja together. The account did not state what further action police or the organisers planned after the family was asked to report to the police station.
