Kolkata stampede leaves at least 19 dead including children - mum loses both daughters

Kolkata stampede leaves at least 19 dead including children - mum loses both daughters At least 19 were killed, mostly women and children, in the stampede during the annual Hindu festival of Durga Puja in Kolkata in eastern India's West Bengal state At least 19 people have been killed including children with 25 more injured during a horror stampede at a Hindu festival in India - with one mother saying both her daughters have been killed. The stampede took place in Kolkata in eastern India's West Bengal state during Durga Puja, an annual Hindu festival celebrating the goddess Durga. Officials said disaster struck when a crowd ran for cover as it began raining, causing some worshippers to fall on the road before being trampled, triggering a stampede. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who visited Kolkata Medical College and Hospital where victims were taken, said one of the victims was a seven-year-old girl. Most of those killed were women and children, The Hindu newspaper reports. Out of 19 dead, 4 are children and 13 are women, according to a list of the deceased shared by Kolkata Police. One woman told the paper she had lost both her daughters in the tragic incident. "I lost both my daughters. There is no one left to call me mother," she said. Both her daughters were in their 20s and one of them had a child, she told reporters. Police have detained some of the event organisers, private security personnel and on-duty staff as an investigation was launched into possible crowd-control and safety lapses. The festival saw Durga Puja pavilions set up across the city, authorities have now advised several of Kolkata's most heavily attended venues to temporarily close to visitors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to those killed in the incident. He said: “Condolences to the bereaved families. Wishing the injured a speedy recovery. The West Bengal Government is providing all possible help to the affected families.” Modi’s office announced compensation of 200,000 rupees ($1,583) for the next of kin of those who died and 50,000 rupees ($396) each for the injured. Crowd crushes are relatively common in India during religious festivals, as large crowds, sometimes in the millions, gather in confined areas with few safety or crowd control measures. In January of 2025, at least 30 people were killed as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to bathe in a sacred river during the Kumbh Mela festival, the world's largest religious gathering. In 2013, pilgrims attending a Hindu festival at a temple in the central state of Madhya Pradesh panicked amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 people were crushed to death or drowned in the river below.