Dussehra festivities turned into heart-rending tragedy in Patna on Friday when 32 people, mostly women and children, were killed in a stampede that broke out soon after Ravana’s effigy was burnt at the historic Gandhi Maidan here. Dozens of people were injured and many of them are battling for their lives at the Patna Medical College and Hospital.
The stampede occurred when a huge crowd that had gathered to witness Ravana Vadh began to disperse after Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi set afire to the 60-feet-high effigy with an arrow.
As fireballs leapt into the sky and the sound of bursting firecrackers reverberated in the air, the crowd began to disperse. That is when the stampede occurred near the Exhibition Road exit point. What triggered the panic and the subsequent stampede is not clear.
While some eyewitnesses said that people panicked following rumours that a live wire had fallen to the ground, others said that some people in the crowd began fighting with each other in a bid to leave the venue first, leading to the stampede.
Strangely, despite the fact that a huge crowd had gathered there on the occasion, all gates of the venue — that has a capacity to hold nearly 3 lakh people — were not opened to facilitate easy entry and exit.
“Today 32 people have died in the stampede,” Bihar Home Secretary Amir Subhani confirmed.Government officials said that the dead were mainly women and children. “There were five or six children and around 20 women among the dead,” said Patna District Magistrate Manish Kumar Verma. Verma said around 15 people were critically injured and were being treated at a local hospital.
“There was such a huge rush towards the exit gate that several women and children were crushed in the frenzy,” Verma added.
As news of the tragedy spread, a huge crowd gathered at the PMCH as people poured in to search for their loved ones who had gone to the Gandhi Maidan and were untraceable. The administration had to deploy a huge posse of policemen to deal with the angry crowd.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the Bihar Chief Minister to enquire about the stampede. He sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of those killed in the tragedy.Footwear, handbags, broken spectacles and bangles were strewn over an area of 500 metres that showed that the stampede was not confined to a small area.
Each year, the Ravana Vadh at Gandhi Maidan draws huge crowds from across the State. Thousands of people from North Bihar, especially from Hajipur and Muzaffarpur gather every year to witness the occasion.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday expressed “shock and grief” over the deaths and injuries in the stampede in Patna. “Dismayed at the unfortunate incident, Sonia Gandhi expressed the hope that the injured were being adequately attended to and conveyed her condolences to the families of those who passed away,” a Congress statement said in New Delhi.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad blamed the Bihar Government. “Recently there was an incident during Chhatt puja. There was an incident during Narendra Modi’s rally in October last year,” Prasad said.
Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan also expressed sadness at the incident and attacked the JD(U) Government in Bihar for allegedly failing to put in place measures to prevent the tragedy.JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav assured the State Government headed by his party will probe the incident and take action against those responsible for failing to take adequate precautionary measures.
Expressing sorrow at the tragedy, Yadav said: “The incident will be probed and those whose laxity and carelessness led to the tragedy will face strong action.”