‘Saw people rushing towards stage when B Praak came… could only hear the screams’: Eyewitnesses at Kalkaji Temple

Shivam (23), a social worker, said, “We never expected this to happen. I was near the stage and was lucky as my friend pulled me… we got injured during the stampede.”

Kusum Mourya, 42, a housewife, said, “The stage fell right on me and I was trapped under all the wooden pillars and metal… After 10-15 minutes, I was pulled out… My left hand is fractured.”

On Sunday, when The Indian Express visited the premises, labourers could be seen removing iron poles and other material even as devotees continued to pour in for a darshan. “A large number of people came in to listen to singers B Praak and Kanhaiya Mittal… everything happened so suddenly… It was a stampede-like situation… The police were there and so were we but the crowd was such that we could not control…” said a 40-year-old man, who works as a commando at the temple. Requesting anonymity, he said, “People started climbing on to the stage and soon, the platform that could only accommodate 15-20 people had 100 people.”

Mahant Surendranath Avadhoot from the temple said, “The jagran is organised every year following a 50-day-long bhajan-kirtan and small programmes. The jagran is organised by Shri Kalkaji Sajja Sevadar Mitra Mandal for the country’s peace, wellness and happiness… it (the incident) is very unfortunate….”

Sagar Malik, a local resident, said, “This is complete mismanagement on the part of organisers and the police…” Lakhi, who attended the jagran with 23 members of his family, said, “We were all sitting on the floor… when the stage fell, my two sisters got stuck, one suffered head injury and another got her leg fractured…”

BJP councillor from Kalkaji, Yogita Singh, who visited the temple on Sunday, said, “I also visited the temple yesterday (Saturday) around 6-6.30 pm… the organisers, the police, the temple management and we need to be careful so that the incident does not happen again in the future.”

AAP minister Somnath Bharti posted on X, “It is the third stage which because of overburdening much beyond the capacity it could bear collapsed… One of my friends witnessed the entire thing…”