At least 19 people were killed and 25 others injured on Saturday in a stampede at a Durga Puja gathering in Kolkata, eastern India, officials and Indian media said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendhu Adhikari said the dead included a seven-year-old girl and that the injured were hurt outside a pavilion. “Six bodies have so far been identified,” he said.
A senior police official told AFP that an announcement caused “commotion” when rain began falling at night. The crowd waiting outside the pandal, he said, pushed forward and fell, triggering the stampede.
Adhikari first announced 17 deaths. The Press Trust of India (PTI) later reported the toll had risen to 19, and that nine bodies had been released to families.
PTI said police have seized CCTV footage and that action will be taken against anyone seen failing in crowd-control duties. The Indian Express reported that videos taken before the crush showed large crowds queuing to enter the pavilion through narrow lanes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the stampede “saddening” in a Facebook post, offered condolences and said the state government was helping affected families.
Deadly crowd incidents are common at Indian mass events. A stampede at last year’s Kumbh Mela killed 30 people, and 36 died at a rally in Tamil Nadu. In 2024, 121 people were killed at a religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh.
