Six pilgrims, all elderly women, died during a mad rush to board a vessel at Kachuberia on their way home from the Gangasagar Mela, Sundarban Affairs Minister Manturam Pakhira said on Sunday.
More than a million devotees gathered at the Kapil Muni’s Ashram in Gangasagar in the Sundarbans area on Sunday.
The tragedy occurred as they got impatient due to the long queue at a jetty and tried to outdo one another in boarding the vessel. Some of them fell on the jetty and were later taken to a healthcare centre.
Expressing his condolences, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sanctioned ex gratia payment of ₹2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and ₹50,000 for those injured.
Search by divers
A search has been launched by naval divers to find anybody who might have fallen into the river during the rush.
Mr. Pakhira told PTI that the six women died after falling ill during the scramble.
A few people fell unconscious while several took ill during the incident, he said. All were taken to a nearby temporary healthcare centre where the six died.
“These women were very old. Most of them were above 75 and were very weak. They died a natural death. Doctors said they died of heart attack,” Mr. Pakhira said. “The rush was because there would be no vessel for about eight hours due to low tide,” he said.
State Ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Arup Biswas denied there was any stampede.
After the initial reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tweeted: “Saddened by the loss of lives caused by a stampede in West Bengal. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased.”
( With PTI inputs )
