‘I lost her hand’: Survivors recount horror as Kolkata pandal stampede kills 19

New Delhi: A festive evening turned into a waking nightmare in Kolkata on Saturday after a massive stampede broke out at the Chorebagan Durga Puja pandal, killing at least 19 people. What was meant to be a joyful outing for families visiting from across West Bengal and neighbouring Bihar ended in devastation, cutting short the lives of 13 females and six males. Among the victims were four young children; the youngest was just 13 years old, from North 24 Parganas, while the oldest was a 66-year-old man from Howrah.

For 17-year-old Akriti Kumari from Bihar, it was her very first trip to Kolkata. She had come to the city with her family and was visiting pandals while staying at a relative’s house in Bally, Howrah. As the crowds swelled near the exit of the award-winning pandal, chaos took over within seconds.

Recalling the harrowing moment, her cousin Sukriti Raut said, “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.”

Households torn apart in seconds

The tragedy wiped out multiple members from single households. Fourteen-year-old Sandip Bhej, an eighth-standard pupil from East Burdwan’s Madhabdidhi village, had travelled with his mother Tagar (37) and sister Agamoni. Sandip, his mother, and their aunt Piyali Pramanik (25) were all killed, while his sister survived.

Speaking over the phone to HT, a relative, Subrata Pramanik, shared that Sandip used to cycle to local pandals back home every day. He noted that Tagar had simply brought the children to visit relatives and see the pandals, expecting to return the following day, only for their bodies to be sent back instead.

A similar devastation struck the Srivastava family, who had travelled from Muzaffarpur, Bihar, for pandal-hopping. The family lost Abhishek Kumar Srivastava (38) and his young son, Ayansh. Rajesh Srivastava, Abhishek’s brother, told HT, “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.”

Desperate phone calls and unbearable grief

For parents in Kolkata, the horror unfolded through abrupt phone calls. Binod Halder, a resident of Gouranganagar in New Town, broke down remembering how he had let his 17-year-old daughter, Barnali, go out with childhood friends after she insisted on visiting nearby Salt Lake. Barnali died alongside her 18-year-old friend Tania Biswas.

“We never used to let her go alone. Like previous years, this year too we had taken her out for pandal hopping on Panchami and Sashthi. 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.

He added that he was in Baguihati when one of her friends rang him to say she had collapsed, only for him to rush over and find his daughter lying dead on the street alongside other victims.