A stampede at a Durga Puja festival site in Kolkata, eastern India, killed at least 19 people and injured about two dozen more on Saturday night, officials said Sunday, after sudden rain sent a large crowd rushing near a pavilion.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari visited Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, where the victims were taken, and said 19 people had died and 25 were being treated. A seven year old girl is among the dead.
Police have detained some of the pavilion’s organizers, private security personnel and on duty staff, and opened a probe into crowd control and safety lapses.
What We Know So Far
The crush happened Saturday night, Oct. 17, at the exit gate of a pavilion in Kolkata’s Girish Park area, local television said. Durga Puja is an annual, multiday Hindu festival honoring the goddess Durga, and its temporary pavilions, known as pandals, house idols and draw huge crowds. Around 3,500 pandals have been set up across Kolkata this year.
When rain began, the crowd outside the pandal started “pushing, pulling and rushing forward,” a senior police official told Agence France Presse. An announcement caused “commotion,” the official said, and people fell on the ground, setting off the stampede. Some worshippers fell on the road, police told the AP.
Medics carried injured people on stretchers into a local hospital, including a police officer. Relatives of the victims wept and held one another.
Six of the dead have been identified, Adhikari said. The Press Trust of India said nine bodies have been released to their families. It also said police took the closed circuit footage from the festival, and that authorities plan action against anyone seen failing in their crowd control duties.
Videos shot before the stampede appear to show large crowds waiting to enter the pavilion in an area with narrow lanes, the Indian Express said. Authorities asked several of the city’s busiest pavilions to close temporarily.
What Authorities Are Saying
Adhikari announced an investigation by a Special Investigation Team led by a judge of the state High Court.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the stampede was saddening and offered condolences, adding that the West Bengal government is providing all possible help. On X, he announced 200,000 rupees (about US$2,100) in compensation for the families of those killed and 50,000 rupees for each injured person.
Differing Accounts
The sources differ on the toll and on what the crowd was doing. The AP and CNA reported at least 19 dead, while the BBC reported at least 17. The Press Trust of India said Adhikari first announced 17 deaths and later raised the figure to 19 in a new statement.
On how it started, the AP said a crowd near the pavilion ran for cover when the rain began. Local television quoted by CNA said heavy rain led to overcrowding at the exit gate as devotees tried to leave. The police official quoted by AFP described a crowd waiting outside the pandal, and the Indian Express showed large crowds waiting to enter in narrow lanes. The chief minister’s name is spelled Suvendu in the AP and Suvendhu in CNA and the BBC.
Why This Matters
Crowd crushes are relatively common in India during religious festivals, where crowds of thousands, sometimes millions, gather in confined spaces with little crowd control. In January 2025, at least 30 people died as tens of thousands rushed to bathe in a sacred river during the Maha Kumbh. In 2013, at least 115 people were crushed or drowned at a temple festival in Madhya Pradesh after pilgrims panicked about a bridge collapsing.
Last year also saw the deaths of 11 fans in Bengaluru during celebrations for a local cricket team’s Indian Premier League title and of 36 people at an actor turned politician’s rally in Tamil Nadu. In 2024, 121 people died at a Hindu religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh.
Durga Puja runs for several days, so authorities must decide how to keep the festival going in the same crowded lanes.
What Happens Next
The Special Investigation Team will examine crowd management and safety at the pavilion, and police will review CCTV footage before taking action against those found responsible. The toll could change as the 25 people still being treated recover. Whether the closed venues reopen, and under what limits, has not been announced.
Sources: the Associated Press, CNA and the BBC
