00:00Right now we have very little information trickling in but Anupam, for our viewers who are joining in now,
00:07can you take us through the entire incident, the sequence of what really happened?
00:13We do have some numbers that probably are coming in.
00:20And we are getting to know now that possibly 17 people have lost their lives.
00:27So a huge tragedy there in Calcutta.
00:31We have this unfortunate news coming in that 17 people have lost their lives.
00:37Going across to Anupam Mishra, 17 is a huge number, Anupam, for Pujo, a celebration that happens every year,
00:47something that the government, the administration prepares for every year.
00:52This is something which is quite shocking.
00:55It's absolutely shocking that so many people have lost their lives and 17 people, it's a huge number.
01:05And a situation like that could have been avoided by, but what exactly happened is under investigation and it should
01:14happen.
01:15Who are responsible for it?
01:16Right, Anupam, I'm going to cut across to Tapas Sen Gupta now, our colleague who is at the location now.
01:23Tapas, take us through the place over there, the situation over there and try to tell our viewers how this
01:30incident could have possibly happened,
01:32if you could show us.
01:35Well, see, Anjali, I am at the Medical College Hospital here in Kolkata, where the hijit persons have been taken.
01:4235 people overall have sustained injuries who were removed to the hospital, what we gather from the sources.
01:48However, Kolkata police have not confirmed officially, but 17 number of deaths have been reported so far.
01:53There are possibilities that the death number could rise.
01:56Several other people still remain to be critical.
02:00As of now, I'll show you the bandhobasth out here.
02:02Senior police officials out here are present.
02:05Huge forces have been deployed.
02:06Shubinder Dikari, the chief minister of West Bengal, himself is present at this very place.
02:12We are standing outside the emergency building where the injured persons and the persons who have lost their lives have
02:18been taken inside.
02:19Shubinder Dikari visited and now he remains to be at the office of the principal of Kolkata Medical College and
02:28Hospital.
02:29He is taking stock of the situation and trying to understand the recovery of the injured persons
02:33and what could have possibly led to the death or the cause of death is something that he is trying
02:38to certain.
02:39And we are expecting that the chief minister would come anytime soon now and might speak to the media
02:46and give a much more clarity as to the number of deaths that have reported so far.
02:52But Kolkata police have confirmed that they have already launched an investigation into the matter.
02:58They are questioning the organizers, the future organizers, as to why this thing happened.
03:04And the CCTVs are installed in and around the periphery are also being scanned by Kolkata police officials.
03:10But the larger question remains, Anjali, this is an annual practice and Kolkata police have been dealing with this situation
03:17over years now.
03:18But despite that, why this incident has happened is something that needs to be probed.
03:24Because as I was earlier telling you that prior to Durga Puja, at least a month ahead of Durga Puja,
03:30multiple meetings take place between Puja organizers and Kolkata police, the disaster management group, the fire and emergency services,
03:38all these stakeholders, where they ensure that any such incident doesn't happen.
03:42But what we gather from the eyewitness account that since it was jam-packed outside Chor Bagan, Sorbo Jonin,
03:51where the football was increasing by the time, but around 6.30, there was a torrential rain that happened.
03:58And due to that, people tried to rush inside to take shelter when situation spiraled out of control.
04:05And that's how the situation worsened.
04:07And there were civic volunteers, there were authorities deputed by the Puja organizers.
04:13However, they were outnumbered by the number of people who gathered.
04:17It's a narrow lane outside Chor Bagan, the Sarbo Jonin-Durga Puja committee.
04:23But despite that, why huge number of people were allowed inside at the time?
04:30However, there were barricades erected to cut the crowd.
04:34But despite that, the number of people who were standing in queue to enter inside the panel just ahead of
04:40the entry gate,
04:41were quite huge and several people who were also feeling suffocated because they had to wait for hours to go
04:49even close to the entry gate.
04:51So in this kind of a situation, whether or not more stringent measures, whether it could have been taken,
04:57is something that needs to be answered by the Kata police.
05:00But all efforts are being made at this moment to treat the injured persons as of now.
05:07And huge senior police IPS official teams have also reached the spot, the place of occurrence at Chor Bagan, the
05:17Sarbo Jonin-Durga.
05:18They are sanitizing the area.
05:20They're trying to figure out why things happened.
05:22And the volunteers who were deputed there for the crowd management are also being questioned by Kata police as of
05:28now.
05:29But it remains to be a big tragedy.
05:32I don't remember whether or not such a huge tragedy happened during Dunga Puja.
05:38Today is the second day of Dunga Puja.
05:40Four more days to go.
05:41And if this happens today, then how would Kata police go on to manage the crowd in Adha Pandals?
05:47But yes, information has been sent around to all major Dunga Puja committees to do proper crowd management.
05:55More police forces are on ground.
05:57They have hit the streets and they are trying to clear roads.
06:00They are trying to manage crowds.
06:02But why this incident happened, despite so many stringent measures,
06:06is something that the Kata police will only be able to answer.
06:09But we are expecting Subendo Dikari to come out and speak something officially on record pertaining to the incident
06:16and the number of casualties that have been reported so far
06:19and the number of injured persons who are admitted in this very hospital at Kata Medical College and Hospital.
