Dozens of people, most without masks, were seen jammed together in visuals from the event.
Three elderly devotees died and 40 others were inured due to heat and humidity amid a crowd surge at a religious gathering in Bengal on Sunday. Dozens of people, most without masks, were seen jammed together in visuals from the event at Barrackpore sub-division of North 24 Parganas district.
"Distressed to know of 3 old devotees' death due to heat and humidity in Danda Mahotsav at ISKCON temple at Panihati, tweeted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. "Authorities have rushed to the spot, she informed.
According to administration sources, "The accident took place under the pressure of extreme crowd and temperature. The temple and was closed for the last two years. So, this year, the event saw a huge crowd of about two and a half to three lakh people".
"The police administration had no advance information about the crowd, they said.
Every year, a large number of people gather for 'Doi-Chirey Mela' at the ISKCON temple in North 24 Parganas' Panihat to mark the arrival of Shri Chaitanyadev - a 15th century saint - from Puri in Odisha on the way to his abode at Nabadwip - a heritage city in Bengal.
"The event was not held the last two years because of Covid. So, this year, the event saw huge crowds. A lot of elderly devotees faced issues due to thr hot weather," said Trinamool Congress MLA Nirmal Ghosh.
A lot of visitors complained of no arrangments to manage the crowd. "There is no system. We are standng in the line for the last three hours," said one of the visitors.
The temple has been closed after the accident.