Kolkata Durga Puja pandal closed after crowd incident

A crowd incident at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata on Saturday evening left people injured and prompted police to close the venue, while reports of deaths remained unconfirmed by police in the available accounts. Kolkata Police said the incident took place near the pandal’s exit gate at about 7:40 p.m. on October 17, amid heavy crowding and rain. Police said injured people were rescued and taken to Calcutta Medical College Hospital, and that the pandal was closed to visitors. Police, fire brigade and disaster management personnel, along with ambulances and medical teams, were deployed, according to the police statement. Reports gave varying preliminary estimates of the number of injured, ranging from about 25 to about 40. The accounts did not establish a final total. One report, citing a Bengali television channel and hospital sources, said 17 people had died. Kolkata Police had not confirmed fatalities in the supplied accounts, and the reported death toll remained unverified. The sequence and cause of the incident were also not conclusively established. Some reports described a section of the pandal or its entrance structure as having collapsed amid the...