Latest (Saturday 16:42 ET): The death toll rose to 19. Adhikari originally announced 17 fatalities, and the Press Trust of India reported the toll rising by two to 19, quoting him in a later statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted condolences to the bereaved families and said the West Bengal government was providing help to those affected. Nine bodies have been released to their families, PTI reported, and police have taken the festival’s closed circuit footage, with authorities saying action would follow against anyone seen to have failed in crowd control duties.
At least 17 people were killed and 25 injured in a stampede outside a Durga Puja pavilion in Kolkata on Saturday, officials said. Sudden rainfall at night prompted an announcement that caused commotion among the crowd waiting outside the pavilion, and people pushing and rushing forward fell to the ground, a senior police official at the scene told AFP.
West Bengal’s Chief Minister Suvendhu Adhikari told reporters the dead included a seven-year-old girl and that six bodies had so far been identified. Deadly crowd incidents are frequent at Indian mass religious events; a stampede at the Kumbh Mela last year killed 30 people, and 121 people were killed at a religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh in 2024.