At least 19 visitors were reported dead and more than 25 injured in a crowd crush at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata’s Girish Park area on Saptami evening, after heavy rain drove visitors into an already congested structure, according to a report by Sangbad Pratidin – Kolkata. Doctors cited in the report said most of the deaths appeared to have been caused by suffocation under crowd pressure.
The incident reportedly occurred after a section of the pandal gave way amid intense crowd movement. Visitors were trapped inside as people tried to escape the rain, leading to panic, pushing and people falling over one another. The report said the death toll could rise, although it did not include an official casualty bulletin or a statement from the police or the puja organisers.
A named eyewitness, Anindya Kumar Das, a resident of Konnagar, described being inside the pandal with his daughter and granddaughter when the crush began. He said he struggled to hold their hands as people fell around them and visitors shouted for help. According to his account, several people were unable to breathe as the crowd pressed forward and individuals fell on top of one another.
Das said he had travelled from Konnagar during the afternoon after hearing that the puja was drawing large crowds and that the idol and pandal were notable attractions. He described the approach as a narrow road and said a building under construction appeared to reduce the available space further. He also said the entry area was busy with organisers managing a VIP queue when he arrived.
Inside the pandal, visitors had to move through a circular elevated corridor and make a 360-degree turn before exiting, according to the eyewitness account. The heavy rain reportedly caused a large number of people to enter the pandal at the same time. Das said he could not see police personnel or volunteers in the area during the emergency and that no ambulance was visible outside when people began calling for help.
The account said local residents later broke parts of the pandal to help remove people who were trapped. Das reported finding his daughter on the ground and searching for his granddaughter while injured visitors lay nearby. He said he was later at a hospital with his family member. The source report did not specify the hospital, identify the injured, or provide details of any rescue, crowd-control or medical response by public authorities.
The incident places the focus on the management of visitor movement, emergency exits, rain-related crowd surges and access for ambulances at Kolkata’s large seasonal public gatherings. Further casualty figures, official confirmation and details of the authorities’ response were not available in the supplied report.
