10 killed in Deoghar stampede

At least 10 pilgrims killed and over 50 were injured on Monday when influx of devotes resulted in a stampede near Deoghar temple. The tragic incident took place early in the morning around 4.30 near at Belabagan More on Deogarh-Jassidih crossing, about eight kilometers from the sacred temple.

“Officially, five bodies have been identified belonging to Kalika Prasad and Ram Pravesh Kesri from Uttar Pradesh, Praduman Gupta of Farbishganj, Araria of Bihar and Sunil Sharma of Kalahandi, Odisha and Vivek Kumar of Kanpur,” informed Deoghar Public Relation Officer Bindeshwari Prasad Jha.

“Most of the killed are from other States. The injured have been admitted to Sadar Hospital in Deoghar for treatment. Four persons have been referred to RIMS for better treatment,” Jha told The Pioneer. Nine among the killed from suffocation are male.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident happened when devotes huffed and puffed to get ahead in the serpentine queue to the temple and in the process jumped over those who were resting on floor. “long line of pilgrims of over 10 kilometers was there. Devotes were resting after overnight journey and waiting the temple gate to be opened. All of a sudden some pilgrims shout that the door has opened. This created a kind of euphoria to get ahead of the others. This lead to total chaos and people behind jumped on the others to get ahead in the queue,” said Eloes lakra, CEO of Deoghar Municipal Corporation.  

Task of the management multiplied as power of the area went off. “The gate was opened and due to darkness people fell on each other in the rush. This took the toll to 10,” Diwakar Kamath, erstwhile Civil Surgeon of Deoghar said this newspaper earlier in the day.

Reacting promptly, the four member team headed by Home Secretary NN Pandey, Rural Development Secretary MR Meena, ADG (Operations) SN Pradhan and Director Health Services Sumant Mishra has recommended the Government to suspend top officials of Deoghar administration in the evening.

“The team visited the place and probed the incident. It has conveyed its impression to the Government and decision to suspend DC Amit Kumar and SP P Murugan for negligence in duty with immediate effect has been taken. Also, grave negligence on the part of hospital administration was also found and Regional Deputy Director of Health Shir Prasad and Civil Surgeon Diwakar Kamath have been suspended,” said Pandey.

The team took the decision after grave mismanagement in regulating the devotees, arranging the queue, proper guidance system for them, missing senior officials, lighting facilities, public address system and lack of proper barricading to prevent people from jumping the queue were seen, added the Home Secretary.

Rahul Purwar, who had been sent as Special DC earlier in the day, has been deputed as DC of Deoghar while Vipul Shukla, SP of Dumka, has been transferred as SP there till the month long season ends. DIG of Dumka Range would also be in the charge of Dumka SP.    

It is learnt that number of constables deployed to control the crowed proved insufficient as sea of over one lakh devotees was in the line. Following the incident already outnumbered policemen and controllers tried their best to manage things but forced to flee from the scene as they were overpowered by the pilgrims.

Suspended Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar earlier said over phone that the incident happened as some tried break the queue. 

“Also the inflow was very much due to Monday and the management could not control it.” Mondays during the holy month of Sawan is considered pious.

Some reports quoted the number of killed as 11 but the DPRO said that one among this was of a devote who had died of some other reasons on Sunday itself. “Actual toll of today’s incident is 10 and due to the confusion by the hospital authorities it is said as 11. One person had died earlier due to some other disease,” said Jha.

Deputy Development Commissioner of the district Meena Thakur admitted about unpreparedness from the part of the administration. “It was unexpected crowd. We were presuming around 1 lakh devotees but the number was far more than that. The situation tuned out of gear when some started rushing to get ahead in the line as time neared for opening the gate in the morning. Some tired devotees who were lying on the floor could not get up and came under the mad rush from behind,” said the DDC. 

Moreover all the claims of the administration about preparedness again proved hollow even after the unprecedented incident. One of the two helpline numbers issued for assisting the family members of the ill-fated turned out to be of a ‘Hotel Yatrik’ (232299) while another—232295—remained busy and out of reach throughout. 

Meanwhile Chief Minister Raghubar Das expressed grief over the incident and directed the authorities to provide better medical care to the injured. “It is very tragic incident and I express my sympathy to the families of deceased. We have formed a high level committee headed by the Home Secretary. It would investigate all the aspects and present a report. Any further action would be taken based on the report,” said the CM who also briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after the incident.

The Government has also announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia to kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50000 to those injured.  Home Secretary NN Pandey, Additional Director General of Police SN Pradhan and other officials have been supervising the rescue operation and treatment.

Apart from relief and recue the administration also focused on continuing the darshan. “Devotes in queue have performed their puja and the process for today is about to complete as per the timing. We will sit together and chalk out plans for the remaining part of the month,” said the DDC.   

Also, two companies of RAF have been deployed in the temple area while three more companies--apart from two already deputed—CRPF have been rushed to the spot.