19 trampled to death during a Durga Puja in Kolkata

The night of October 17, 2026, dawned with the immense excitement of the Maha Saptami festival near the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal on Muktaram Babu Street in North Kolkata. Thousands had gathered in those narrow lanes to witness this 91st annual community puja festival, which had been named the state government's "most outstanding" attraction.

However, with the sudden torrential rain that poured down between 7:30 PM and 7:40 PM, the festive atmosphere turned into the darkness of death within minutes.

As lightning struck and heavy rain lashed down, people outside the pandal suddenly rushed inside to escape the rain. Simultaneously, as people inside tried to exit, a severe crush was created near the narrow and curved exit gate, which was separated by an iron fence and included a staircase. Some, unwilling to get wet, refused to leave, further increasing the pressure from the crowd behind them. Meanwhile, due to insufficient lighting, the pandal was plunged into darkness, and it is reported that the air conditioning units stopped working, leading to severe suffocation. As the uncontrollable crowd pushed further, a part of a temporary structure at the exit gate is suspected to have collapsed. The situation became even more tragic as the panicked crowd became further agitated by the whistles and announcements from private security officers and organizers.

People were trampled over others who had fallen on the staircase, and this tragedy claimed 19 lives and injured 25 others. Of the deceased, 17 died on the spot, and the majority were women and young children. Among them were 7-year-old Ayansh Kumar Srivastava, 13-year-old Pranjal Sarkar, and 14-year-old Sandeep Bais. One survivor recounted in shock how he saw his mother lose her life right in front of him. Eyewitnesses described how friends fell one after another on the staircase.

Doctors confirmed that the majority of deaths were due to suffocation and trampling. The injured were admitted to Calcutta Medical College Hospital and SSKM Hospital, with initial reports stating that 24 were not in serious condition and one was critical. After the incident, scattered shoes, bags, water bottles, and pieces of clothing around the puja pandal became silent testimonies to the extent of the horrific crush. Local residents were the first to come forward to rescue the victims, even tearing down parts of the pandal to pull out those trapped. Later, police, fire, and disaster relief teams arrived at the scene.

Following the incident, the Girish Park police sealed the pandal, cut off electricity, and handed it over to forensic and criminal investigation teams. Seven people were arrested by the police, including Raj Kumar Sevda (Raja), secretary of the organizing committee, Shantanu Dubey, vice-president, Biplab Mukherjee, scaffold constructor, Kaushik Saha and Pintu Dey, in charge of crowd management, as well as Suman Chakraborty and Rajesh Pal, heads of private security. Another 14 people have been questioned. Charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, have been filed against them under sections 105, 110, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) law. Concurrently, several officials, including the chief secretary of the committee, resigned from their positions.

State Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who visited the hospital and the incident site to observe the situation, took steps to appoint a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a judge of the Calcutta High Court. Stating that "human lives are more valuable than themes," he announced compensation of 25 lakh rupees and a government job for the families of the deceased, and an allowance of 5 lakh rupees along with full medical expenses for the injured. In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced relief of 2 lakh rupees each to the families of the deceased and 50,000 rupees each to the injured through the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. All state programs scheduled for the 18th were canceled, and the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Kolkata was also postponed.

The 'Chorbagan' area, once considered a haunt of robbers, is now a densely populated residential zone with old mansions. It appears that the combination of the puja pandal being built in a gallery shape with a 360-degree view, its location in narrow lanes, and the torrential rain all contributed to this tragedy. Due to the involvement of Bijoy Ojha, a Bharatiya Janata Party MP who chairs the organizing committee, and Devdeep Adhikari, a nephew of the Chief Minister, strong criticism is being leveled by the opposition, while the government emphasizes that both the organizers and the police are responsible.

The Chorbagan pandal, which claimed 19 human lives, including Sriparna Poddar and Diyapath Piyali Pramanik, turning a night of joy and devotion into the darkness of death in an instant, is now silently closed. It has left an indelible, sorrowful memory for the entire society about the dangerous consequences of gathering massive crowds without proper planning for lighting, safety, and emergency exits.