The toll in the stampede on an overcrowded bridge on Varanasi-Chandauli border rose to 25 with one more person succumbing to injuries in a hospital on Sunday, even as the Samajwai Party government faced fresh opposition ire on the incident.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday suspended Additional District Magistrate (City) Vindhyavasini Raj and City Magistrate B.B. Singh for dereliction of duty, an official spokesman said here.
District Magistrate Kumar Prashant told reporters here the stampede had claimed 25 lives so far. While 24 deaths were reported on Saturday, one more person died in hospital on Sunday morning.
The incident took place in the Ramnagar police station area of Varanasi, when thousands of followers of Jai Gurudev were crossing the Rajghat bridge towards Domri village in Chandauli for a two-day congregation that concluded on Sunday.
President Pranab Mukherjee expressed condolences over the loss of lives in the stampede and called upon the authorities to provide all assistance and help to the victims.
As Opposition parties held the State government and the local administration “responsible” for the incident, the BJP fired a fresh salvo with Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya blaming the Akhilesh Yadav government for “failing to take lessons from similar mishaps in the state earlier” and demanding a high-level inquiry into the incident. — PTI
