At least three persons were killed and more than 20 injured in a stampede near a temple in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Friday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said. Lakhs of people gather at the temple every year on this day to celebrate the birth anniversary of Baba Lokenath Brahmachari, an 18th century Bengali saint, who has followers in West Bengal and Bangladesh.
The stampede took place at around 2.15 am Indian time near Kachua Loknath temple at Kachua, 50 km from here. Mamata told reporters here that "there was a large crowd at Kachua Loknath temple this year. It started raining heavily and people tried to take shelter at makeshift bamboo stalls on the approach road to the temple. The bamboo structures collapsed after heavy rainfall.
"The place was narrow and in the rush, a few people fell into the pond beside the temple and this created a confusion leading to a stampede-like situation there. I am personally monitoring the situation", she said. A senior police officer said some pilgrims visiting the temple in Basirhat police district had slipped due to slush caused by heavy rain and wind.
The chief minister announced compensation of Rs five lakh to next of kin of those killed in the mishap, Rs one lakh to family members of the critically injured and Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries. BJP state President Dilip Ghosh criticized the state government for not setting up proper infrastructure to deal with the rush of pilgrims.
