Probe ordered as Patna stampede kills 17

Lily

B.R
Staff member
Patna: A pall of gloom has descended on Patna, the capital city of Bihar, in the aftermath of the killing of 17 people in a stampede during a religious festival along the banks of the River Ganga late on Monday evening. The majority of the victims were children and women who had gathered at the river banks to enjoy the festivities.

Tens of thousands of Hindu worshippers had gathered along the banks of Ganga in Patna to offer prayers to the setting sun during the Chhath festival when a bamboo bridge which they used to reach the river caved in unable to bear the weigh of the crowd, leading to stampede which resulted in the deaths.

“We have lost the world,” cried Satyanarayn Singh, who lost a close family member in the incident. There were some who were clasping their dead children in their arms, kissing them as if they would come to life, while there were others who beat their chests out of grief with few consoling them as most people had similar tragedies in their family.

The scattered shoes and slippers, lifeless bodies on the ground and strewn worship materials were mute witnesses to what happened on the dark evening of Monday.

“I was returning after offering prayers to the Sun God when I noticed a huge crowd rushing towards me. I tried to save myself but soon thereafter I found myself under the heaps of people falling over me. Somehow, I survived,” recounted one witness.

Others said the crowd went beserk and ran for safety after word spread that a live wire had fallen on the makeshift bamboo bridge. The situation further complicated when power went off at the time the bridge collapsed. Such was the panic gripping the devotees that they threw away their baskets full of holy offerings and left the place to save themselves or their kin, witnesses said.

Although the officials confirmed only 17 deaths, witnesses said the exact casualty figure was much more than the official data. “We have found 17 bodies of victims in three hospitals of Patna so far but are still searching for more bodies, if any, at other hospitals,” state health secretary Vyasji said. The state government, in the meantime, has announced a compensation of Rs200,000 (Dh13,331) to each of the victim family and has also declared to bear the cost of treatment of people injured in the stampede.

Meanwhile, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe into the incident saying the cause was still unclear. He, however, ruled out that the bridge collapse led to the stampede.

“One thing is clear that the bridge collapse did not lead to disaster; in fact, the bridge caved in after the stampede took place,” Bihar chief minister told the media at a late night press conference on Monday. “The issue now required to be probed is what, as such, led to the stampede. The reason will be clear only after a thorough probe,” said the chief minister adding he had asked the home secretary to inquire into the incident.

He added that severe punitive actions will be initiated against the erring officials if any lapses are found on their part during the course of the inquiry.

The chief minister also paraded senior officials in departments concerned, such as road construction, electricity, health and law and order, to have their views on the incident. Their statements gave enough hints about how they had come well planned to defend themselves. Sadly the disaster took place barely an hour after the chief minister accompanied with scores of senior officials had made an inspection of the religious festivities taking a steamer ride and had also waved to the devotees who had gathered along the river bank to offer prayers to the setting sun. While making an inspection of the festivities, the chief minister had even praised the officials for making such a remarkable arrangement for the devotees during the Chhath. Moments later, disaster took place.

The chief minister has also appealed to the opposition parties not to do politics over the deaths and follow a healthy politics but the opposition has launched scathing attacks on the state government and even sought the resignation of the chief minister.

“The chief minister must forthwith resign owning moral responsibility,” demanded chief spokesman of the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Ram Kripal Yadav alleging that the chief minister had engaged in only theatrics, rather than taking care of the people of Bihar. The Congress too flayed the chief minister for his “failures” to protect the life of the masses.
 
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