Stampede at Kolkata Durga Puja pandal kills 19 on Saturday
A stampede at a Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata killed 19 people on Saturday, The Hindu and The Indian Express reported. People had come in from the rain when a misleading warning that it could fall set off panic, The Hindu said. Police have arrested seven people, The Indian Express said.
A stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata killed 19 people on Saturday evening, The Hindu and The Indian Express reported. About 24 people were hurt, The Hindu reported.
The stampede happened at about 7:40 in the evening at the pandal's exit gate, amid a heavy crowd during rain, police said, according to The Hindu. Many people had taken shelter inside the pandal when it began to rain, The Hindu reported. Preliminary reports say organizers made a misleading announcement over a microphone telling people to leave because the structure could collapse, The Hindu reported. Private guards hired by the organizers also allegedly blew whistles, adding to the panic, it said.
Kolkata Police arrested seven people, including officials of the puja committee, The Indian Express reported. Those arrested include the committee secretary, Additional Commissioner of Police Kunal Agarwal said, according to The Indian Express. Police opened a case on their own at Girish Park police station, the paper reported. Fourteen people were first detained for questioning, The Indian Express reported. The Hindu reported that police were questioning 12 detained people, including organizers and volunteers.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said 17 people were brought dead to Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, The Hindu reported. A child died at another hospital, and one more person died on the way to a private clinic, he said, according to The Hindu. Adhikari said police had given permission for the pandal, The Hindu reported.
Adhikari said he would ask the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court to name a sitting judge to oversee a special team investigating the stampede, The Hindu reported. Police have collected CCTV footage from the pandal, it said.
The state will pay ₹25 lakh to the family of each person killed and give a job to one member of each family, The Hindu reported. The injured will get ₹5 lakh each, it said. The festival runs until Wednesday, October 21, and about 57,400 Durga Pujas are being held across the state, The Hindu reported.
What we know: The stampede killed 19 people, seven people are under arrest, and the state wants a High Court judge to oversee the probe.
What we don't: Who made the warning announcement, and what charges the people arrested will face.
Where outlets agree The Hindu and The Indian Express report that the stampede at the Chorbagan pandal in north Kolkata killed 19 people.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.