Oct 17 (Reuters) – A crush at a religious festival in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata killed at least 17 people and injured dozens, local media reported on Saturday.
Durga Puja, a multi-day annual Hindu festival in the state of West Bengal, draws huge crowds to temporary structures known as pandals that house idols of the goddess Durga.
The incident occurred at the exit gate in Kolkata’s Girish Park area after heavy rain led to overcrowding as large numbers of devotees attempted to leave the venue, local TV said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, in a post on social media platform X, announced a compensation payment of 200,000 rupees ($2,106.15) for the next of kin of those who died and 50,000 rupees each for the injured.
($1 = 94.9600 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Angela Christy and Ananya Palyekar in Bengaluru. Editing by Mark Potter and Sanjeev Miglani)
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