19 people died and 25 were injured in a stampede at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on Saturday evening. Officials blame a false loudspeaker announcement, panic, and heavy rain.
Updated: October 18, 2026, 8:15 AM IST
Quick Read
- The stampede broke out on Saturday evening (Maha Saptami) at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal, off Chittaranjan Avenue in north Kolkata, after the exit gate collapsed under crowd pressure during heavy rain.
- 19 people died — 17 were brought dead to Medical College and Hospital, one child died at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, and one person died on the way to a private hospital. 25 are injured.
- The state government announced ₹25 lakh and a Group D government job for each bereaved family, and ₹5 lakh plus full treatment cost for each injured person. PM Modi announced ₹2 lakh from PMNRF per deceased and ₹50,000 per injured.
Nineteen people are dead after a stampede at one of Kolkata’s most crowded Durga Puja pandals on Saturday evening. The rush happened at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata — a popular community puja on a narrow road off Chittaranjan Avenue.
What turned a festival evening into a tragedy, according to officials at the spot, was a chain of small things going wrong at once. It started raining. A large number of visitors who were outside rushed in to take shelter. Then came an announcement on the loudspeaker — one the police now call misleading — and whistles blown by private security guards. Panic followed. The exit gate gave way under the pressure of the crowd.
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The announcement that sparked panic
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who rushed to the Kolkata Medical College and Hospital where the victims were taken, said the first reports from the spot pointed to the organisers’ loudspeaker announcement. “According to initial reports by the officials at the spot, the incident occurred owing to an announcement on the loudspeaker by the puja organisers,” he said.
The Hindu reported that the announcement allegedly asked people to leave the pandal, claiming the structure could collapse at any moment. Private security staff hired by the organisers then blew whistles, which only added to the fear. Family members of two of the dead told the chief minister that the whistles caused a rush among people waiting to enter the pandal.
Local residents told The Hindu a different piece of the story: the police presence was thin. “I have not seen adequate police presence this year. This resulted in the mismanagement,” said Sanghamitra Bhowmik, a resident of the Chorbagan area. Locals also alleged that personnel were stationed mainly near the VIP entrance, and that there was little help in getting the injured to hospitals.
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Detentions, CCTV and a judge-led probe
Twelve people have been detained for questioning — the puja organisers, private security guards, and on-duty staff. “It is a painful incident, and we are doing whatever is required,” Adhikari said. The Anti-Rowdy Section of Kolkata Police has seized CCTV footage from the pandal.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) will probe the incident, and it will be overseen by a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court. The SIT will include officers from the Special Task Force (STF), the CID, and other departments. The chief minister said he would write to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to depute the judge.
“We will check the footage and take appropriate measures against those who failed to manage the crowd. That could be a member of the puja committee, a homeguard, a temporary worker, a policeman, or a private company security guard. Nobody will be spared,” Adhikari said. A forensic team collected evidence from the sealed venue late at night. As a precaution, high-footfall pandals like Suruchi Sangha and Chetla Agrani were also closed, The South First reported.
Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) has been imposed in parts of the city for three days. Section 163 is the new name of what used to be Section 144 of the CrPC — a law that stops groups of five or more people from gathering in an area.
Aid, condolences and the blame game
The West Bengal government announced ₹25 lakh and a Group D government job for the family of each person who died. Each injured person will get ₹5 lakh, and the government will bear the full cost of treatment at any hospital of their choice. “Till now, family members of nine dead have reached here. I have spoken to them personally,” Adhikari said at the hospital.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the stampede “extremely distressing” and announced ₹2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund per deceased and ₹50,000 per injured person, and sought a report from the state government.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who arrived in Kolkata on Saturday evening, postponed all his Sunday programmes to visit the injured in hospital today. “I pray to Ma Durga that all the injured individuals recover swiftly,” he posted.
President Droupadi Murmu called it “extremely heartbreaking”; Rahul Gandhi offered condolences and asked Congress workers to join relief work; former CM Mamata Banerjee said she was “deeply shocked and saddened”.
But the tragedy quickly turned political. The Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, alleged that poor crowd management and inadequate police presence caused the deaths — and, in a post on X, claimed that one of the puja organisers was the incumbent chief minister’s nephew (‘bhaipo’) and that “a Bengal BJP MLA also happens to be the Chairman of this Puja Committee! Where is the accountability? Who is responsible for all these deaths?” Those claims are the TMC’s, and they have not been independently verified. What is verified: the state government granted permission for the pandal, and the probe will have to answer who failed on crowd control.
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FAQs
How many people died in the Kolkata pandal stampede, and how?
19 died on Saturday evening at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal — 17 were brought dead to Medical College and Hospital, one child died at R.G. Kar, and one died en route to a private hospital. 25 are injured, one of them critical.
What compensation has been announced?
The West Bengal government will give ₹25 lakh and a Group D government job to each bereaved family, and ₹5 lakh plus full medical expenses to each injured person. PM Modi announced ₹2 lakh from PMNRF for each deceased person’s next of kin and ₹50,000 for each injured person.
What happens next?
A Special Investigation Team under a sitting Calcutta High Court judge will probe the incident, with CCTV footage already seized and 12 people detained. Union Home Minister Amit Shah visits the injured in hospital today. The state has opened two helplines for families: 1800-345-5678 and 033-22141310.
