Bridge collapse rumour sparks Varanasi stampede, 24 dead

VARANASI: As many as 24 people, including 14 women, were killed and 13 injured in a stampede near Rajghat bridge on the border of Varanasi and Chandauli districts on Saturday when followers of Jai Gurudev were taking out a huge procession at an event to create awareness about vegetarianism and prohibition.

Nearly 1 lakh people were present in the procession, reports said. An organiser of the event, Sant Ram Chaurasia, told TOI that a rumour that the bridge was collapsing led to the stampede.

"Police are going through many theories, including the one about the rumour, to know the actual cause behind the mishap," said UP ADG (law and order) Daljeet Chowdhary, who flew from Lucknow to Varanasi along with home secretary S K Raghuvansi.

A cop said the Jai Gurudev followers were moving on a narrow road to the Rajghat bridge when the stampede occurred. Many victims died of suffocation. An eyewitness said chaos prevailed as hundreds of people were pushed and many more made an effort to move to safer places. Several ambulances were seen making repeated trips to Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Hospital in Ramnagar and Multi-Speciality Trauma Centre of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to ferry the injured.

While ordering a magisterial probe, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said in Azamgarh that the accountability for the mishap would be fixed. Varanasi DM Vijay Kiran Anand said a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of deceased has been announced by the CM.

Agencies quoted UP DGP Javeed Ahmed saying in Lucknow that the organisers had sought permission for 5,000 people for the event but many more joined the procession.

Who spread the rumour? Such a huge crowd should have been guided by police from the beginning.

Eyewitnesses said people from various towns of eastern UP participated in the procession which was moving towards Domari village, the venue of congregation. The entire area, including the Rajghat Bridge, witnessed a massive traffic jam due to the procession. Several people were seen moving on iron girders of the bridge.

The Rajghat Bridge, which is also known as Malviya Bridge, is in good condition. It is a double-deck bridge over the Ganga, connecting Varanasi and Chandauli districts. The bridge has a rail track on the lower deck and a road on the upper deck. The Grand Trunk Road passes through this bridge.