india

Updated: Aug 24, 2019 06:54 IST

A stampede situation broke out in heavy rain on a narrow approach road to a temple in West Bengal’s North 24-Parganas district hours past midnight on Friday, killing three persons and injuring over 20 others, officials familiar with the matter said.

The incident happened near Kachua Loknath temple at Kachua, 50km from Kolkata, around 3 am when a crowd had gathered to celebrate the birth anniversary of Baba Lokenath Brahmachari, an 18th century Bengali saint.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who rushed to Kolkata’s National Medical College and Hospital where some of the injured were admitted, said, “There was a large crowd at Kachua Loknath temple this year. It started raining heavily and people tried to take shelter at makeshift bamboo stalls on the approach road to the temple. The bamboo structures collapsed.”

BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh criticised the state government for not setting up proper infrastructure to deal with the rush of pilgrims. “The state government should have had proper arrangements in place, keeping in mind the huge turnout.