Pandal hopping turns tragic in Bihar: 3 dead in stampede at Gopalganj

Urmila Devi, 55, from Kuchaikot; and Shanti Devi from the town police station area.

Residents said the mishap occurred at around 9 pm at the pandal of Raja Puja Dal Samiti along the station road under the jurisdiction of the town police station. The devotees lined up to see the deity at a puja pandal, leading to a huge crowd.

As the boy lost his balance and fell, the two women behind him leaned to save him, and both fell. A stampede followed as there was a huge crowd with just one exit route. While the child died on the spot, the women complained of breathlessness and died on their way to Sadar Hospital in Gopalganj. Three injured people have been referred to Gorakhpur hospitals, while seven others are being treated at Gopalganj hospitals.

Residents have cited poor crowd management for the stampede. One of them, Govind Kumar, said: “The place where the stampede took place has about a 20-foot-wide narrow stretch of the station road. The pandal had about 25,000 people in its vicinity. Had the lock of an adjoining school not been opened to give passage to the crowd, the situation could have been worse. Gopalganj town pandals had an estimated crowd of 1.5 lakh on Monday evening.”

Sonu Kumar, an eyewitness, said the crowd management could have been better because the authorities were aware of the huge crowding at the pandal every year.

Gopalganj District Magistrate Nawal Kishore Choudhary told the media: “The incident occurred because of a sudden surge of crowd. There was adequate deployment of forces at and around the pandal. Policemen and officials from the local administration saved many lives.”

The administration has restricted people’s movement around pandals on Vijayadashami day on Tuesday.