Police in India's eastern metropolitan city of Kolkata detained 12 people on Saturday night, including the organizers of Chor Bagan Durga Puja, as they probe a stampede that killed nearly 20 people.
The latest update from the state's Chief Minister's X account puts the death toll at 17, with another 25 injured. However, Indian media, including news agency Press Trust of India (PTI), reported that at least 19 people had died.
The detentions came after West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari promised strict action against those who failed to carry out their duties to maintain crowd safety.
"We have detained 12 people in connection with our probe into the Chor Bagan incident. Our officers are talking to them to find out the cause that led to today's mishap. If any lapses are found, we will act as per the law," the officer told PTI.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has announced an independent investigation into the matter, led by a sitting judge of the city's high court.
"We will check the footage and take appropriate measures against those who failed to manage the crowd. That could be a member of the puja committee, a homeguard, a temporary worker, a policeman, or a private company security guard. Nobody will be spared," Adhikari said.
The politics of Durga Puja
Stampedes at religious and cultural festivals are not uncommon in India, but Adhikari's government is under pressure to make the city's biggest annual festival a hit this year.
Adhikari belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party which won the state elections in West Bengal for the first time in India's history, ending former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's 15-year rule there.
The festive season was facing pressure even before it began. Food and fuel inflation, worsened by the conflict in the Middle East and lower than normal rainfall at home, is eating into people's disposable incomes.
Amit Shah, India's Union Home Minister — and Modi's right-hand man — is set to visit the victims and their family members on Sunday morning. The minister had arrived in Kolkata on Saturday evening for a series of festive programs which have now been postponed.
Good morning! and welcome back to DW's weekend coverage on India.
This is Mahima Kapoor reporting from Studio Delhi to relieve Dharvi from her shift as she takes off for a well-deserved vacation.
Dharvi isn't the only one stepping away from her desk as India kicked off its festive season last week. We're currently in the middle of Navratri and Durga Puja, festivals celebrating the different forms of the Indian Goddess Durga.
Navratri — which translates roughly to 'nine nights' — is fervently celebrated across north and western India with colorful dances and vegetarian delicacies. In the east, Durga Puja takes on an artistic fervor, where numerous beautiful tents are set up to welcome the Goddess back to her maternal home.
They herald the countdown to India's biggest festival of the year, Diwali.
But the festive cheer has been dampened, at least temporarily, in the eastern state of West Bengal.
On Saturday evening, heavy crowds, rain and inadequate safety measures led to a stampede in the city fo Kolkata, killing over a dozen people and injuring several more.
Stay tuned for updates on that and more from India on Sunday.
At least 17 people, including 13 women and a child, were killed in a stampede at the Durga Puja religious festival in North Kolkata that was likely caused by sudden rainfall.
"Today (17/10/26), at around 19:40 hrs, a stampede occurred at the exit gate of the Sarada Park (Chor Bagan) Puja Pandal in the Girish Park Police Station area due to heavy crowds of pandal visitors amid rain," the Kolkata Police said in a statement, adding that the injured were taken to the hospital.
West Bengal's Chief Minister Suvendhu Adhikari told reporters that the fatalities included a seven-year-old girl and that 25 others were injured in a stampede.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the incident "extremely distressing" and announced interim compensation for the families of those who died.
The largest annual Hindu festival in India's eastern state of West Bengal, Durga Puja attracts thousands of devotees to temporary structures called pandals that house idols of the goddess Durga.
Poor management and safety lapses at large events in India, such as religious festivals, often result in deadly crowd incidents. A stampede at last year's Kumbh Mela religious fair killed 30 people and injured several others.
