'There was no way out': Families mourn loss of loved ones in Durga Puja stampede that killed 19

The pressure was increasing with every passing second, and there was no way out. I lost her, recalled Sukriti Raut, who lost her 17-year-old cousin, Akriti Kumari, in a stampede that killed 19 people, including four children, at West Bengal’s Chorebagan Durga Puja pandal on Saturday evening.

It was Akriti’s first trip to Kolkata. The cousins were on their way out when the award-winning pandal was drawing heavy footfall. “We had seen the idol and were going out. My sister (Akriti) was holding my hand. The pressure was increasing with every passing second. There was no way out. She wasn’t being able to take the pressure anymore, and she fell down. I lost her. Somebody pulled me out and I got saved. My sister died,” Sukriti said. She had come with her family from Bihar to stay at a relative’s house in Bally, Howrah.

At least 19 people were killed, including 13 females and six males. Four of the deceased were children. The oldest victim was a 66-year-old man from Malipanchghara in Howrah district, while the youngest was a 13-year-old boy from Agarpara in North 24 Parganas district.

What was meant to be a festive outing for families from West Bengal and neighbouring Bihar turned into a tragedy, leaving behind grief-stricken relatives and shattered homes.

Fourteen-year-old Sandip Bhej, a Class 8 student, had come from Madhabdidhi village in East Burdwan district with his mother, Tagar Bhej (37), and elder sister, Agamoni. While Agamoni survived the stampede, Sandip and his mother, along with their aunt, Piyali Pramanik (25), were killed.

“He (Sandip) would every day visit the local puja pandal on his bicycle and give us updates. Tagar took her children to their uncle’s house in Kolkata to visit some of the pandals and was supposed to return the next day. Now their bodies are coming back,” a relative, Subrata Pramanik, told HT over the phone.

Meanwhile, the Srivastava family from Muzaffarpur in Bihar had come to Kolkata for pandal-hopping and had put up at a relative’s house. The family lost two of its members — Abhishek Kumar Srivastava (38) and his son, Ayansh.

“They left the residence at around 5 pm. They went to Chorebagan where the stampede took place. Abhishek’s wife Nibha and another family member sustained minor injuries and returned home. We are shattered. We never thought that this trip would cost their lives,” Rajesh Srivastava, Abhishek’s brother, said.

Binod Halder broke down as he recalled letting his daughter, Barnali, go pandal-hopping with her friends for a few hours after she insisted. Those few hours ended in tragedy, with the 17-year-old from Gouranganagar in New Town being killed in the stampede.

“We never used to let her go alone. Like previous years, this year too we had taken her out for pandal hopping on Panchami (fifth day of the puja) and Sashthi (sixth day of the puja). On Saptami she insisted on going out for pandal hopping with her friends. She said she would go to Salt Lake which was nearby,” Binod told HT.

Barnali, along with her friend Tania Biswas, 18, who was also a resident of Gouranganagar, died in the stampede.

“I received a call from one of her friends who just told me that she had fallen down. I was in Baguihati and rushed to the spot. There I found my daughter lying on the road along with other victims. Biswas stays nearby and they were childhood friends,” he added.