6 Die in Stampede at Religious Festival in Eastern India

New Delhi — At least six people were killed and more than 10 others injured in a stampede at one of the largest religious gatherings in India’s eastern state of West Bengal on Sunday, a police official said.

“The incident took place late in the evening on a jetty in Gangasagar, a riverine island 129 kms from state capital Kolkata, when pilgrims tried to board a ferry to go to a temple of sage Kapil Muni to pray after taking a dip on a spot where the holy Ganges river meet the sea,” he said.

While six people died on the spot, those injured have been rushed to a nearby hospital, the official said, adding that the death toll might go up as some of those injured are said to be in a serious condition.

Over a million pilgrims have gathered in Gangasagar this year to take a dip at the confluence of Ganges river and Bay of Bengal on the occasion of the Hindu festival of Makar Sankranti. The devout believe that a dip in the chilly waters in winter can wash off the sins of a lifetime.

Local TV channels reported that the stampede broke out despite the state government taking a slew of measures to avoid any untoward incident this year, including deploying around 9,000 cops and setting up 165 closed-circuit televisions cameras and a drone for surveillance across the area.

A probe has been ordered into the incident, the police official said.

“Senior police and district administration officials are on the spot to oversee rescue operations and we will wait for the probe report to ascertain the exact cause of the mishap,” he added.

This is the not the first stampede at Gangasagar. In 2014, seven pilgrims were killed and 20 others injured in a similar kind of mishap on the island. (PNA/Xinhua) JMC/SSC