At least 19 people have been killed in a crowd crush at a Durga Puja festival pavilion in Kolkata, Indian officials said, after the toll rose from an initial 17 as more victims were confirmed.
The crush happened at about 7:40 p.m. on Saturday at the Chorebagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata, near Girish Park. A senior police official told AFP that an announcement, coinciding with the onset of heavy rain, caused commotion among the crowd waiting outside, and people began 'pushing, pulling and rushing forward and fell on the ground, leading to the stampede.'
West Bengal's chief minister, Suvendhu Adhikari, said a seven-year-old girl was among the dead and that 25 people were being treated for injuries; around 35 injured people were taken to Kolkata Medical College and Hospital in early counts. The pavilion was closed to visitors after the incident, and police, fire and disaster-management teams were deployed at the scene.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the incident tragic and announced payments of 200,000 rupees to the families of those killed and 50,000 rupees to the injured, while the state government announced additional compensation. Deadly crowd incidents at religious festivals are not uncommon in India; two years ago, 121 people were killed at a Hindu religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh.
