Family members of injured victims weep outside a hospital after a stampede occured during Dussehra function. -AP
At least 32 people, including 20 women and 10 children, were killed and 26 others injured in a stampede Friday evening at the sprawling and hugely crowded Gandhi Maidan shortly after the end of the Dussehra celebrations.
The tragedy occurred at around 7 pm in the southeast corner of the ground, near Exhibition Road, when people were returning after watching “Ravan Vadh (Killing of Ravan)” event and jostled with each other to move ahead, eyewitnesses and officials said. Tens of thousands of people had gathered to watch the annual event at the historic Gandhi Maidan where several pockets were reportedly dimly lit when the stampede broke out.
Patna Medical College and Hospital deputy superintendent Sudhanshu Singh said 32 people died in the stampede 20 women, 10 children and two men. Seven girls were among the 10 children who died, he said, adding 26 people were injured and receiving treatment.
Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has ordered an inquiry by the home secretary and additional director-general of police (headquarters) Gupteshwar Pandey, the CMO said. He has announced ex-gratia payment of Rs 3 lakh to the families of each of the dead. Condoling the loss of life, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sanctioned an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed.
Eyewitnesses said the stampede was sparked by a panic reaction to rumours that a live high-tension wire had snapped and fallen on the ground. However, there was no official confirmation of the exact cause of the stampede. Slippers, shoes and footwear lay strewn over a one-km stretch at the stampede site as people tried to flee. The PMCH has been cordoned off by security forces. Hundreds of people were milling around the PMCH, some of them wailing, trying to locate their loved ones who got separated in the event. Several ambulances were seen going inside the PMCH carrying stampede victims. “There was a rush towards the exit gate and several women and children were run over in the frenzy,” Patna DM M.K. Verma said.