As many as four ‘Kanwarias’ were brought at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for treatment after getting injured in a stampede on Monday morning. According to eyewitnesses, the exact reason for the stampede is yet to be ascertained yet rumour is rife that the chaos was a result of the mismanagement on the part of the security officials at Deoghar.
The victims of the tragedy were brought to RIMS at 4pm as Superintendent, SK Chaudhary and other officials of the institution guided the patients to emergency ward. The four patients—Rina Kumari of Patna, Amit Kumar Gupta of Bidupur in Bihar, Balram of Asansol and Abhijeet—were airlifted in a chopper by Central Reserve Police Force.
“Two are stable where as two are not in a good condition. We will keep them under observation and will release them only after proper treatment,” said the Superintendent.
According to doctors, three patients are in a trauma and not in condition to speak, Abhijeet is critically injured. “He is serious and getting convulsions. It could be because the patient would have been crushed which would have stopped blood circulation to his mind. We cannot say anything as of now,” said a doctor after attending Abhijeet.
The four patients brought to RIMS were not in a condition to narrate the ordeal however people who helped them come out of ground zero had a harrowing tale of the mishap that saw at least a dozen succumbing to mob frenzy.
According to Bablu Hela, a friend of Balram, the stampede resulted when the barrier at Bel Bagan, barely few kilometers from the Baidyanath Temple, was opened for the pilgrims to march towards the main temple setting a mad rush among the pilgrims but the crowd management by police turned the scene ugly.
“It rumoured that police hit a kanwaria and that led to utter chaos and rush among the pilgrims. I was just few yards from the spot. When I reached there to enquire about Balram, I saw people lying everywhere,” said Bablu.
Sources said that four more persons are likely to be brought at the government owned medical institution however the arrival was yet to be confirmed at the time of writing the report.
Meanwhile, the RIMS administration vowed to provide better treatment to all the pilgrims brought at the hospitals and said that the institution is ready in all respect to provide medical care to patients being brought there.