PM Modi condoles deaths in Patna stampede

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday condoled the death of the people who died in a stampede after the burning of the Ravana effigy in Patna. The PM spoke to the Bihar chief minister to enquire about the stampede. “The stampede in Patna is deeply saddening. I spoke to the Bihar CM about the situation,” Modi tweeted. “My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and prayers with the injured,” he added. Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manji was present at the Gandhi Maidan where people watched an arrow setting the 60 feet tall effigy of Ravan into flames “Among the dead, there were five-six children and around 20 women,” according to Patna district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma. Verma said around 15 people were injured and were being treated at a local hospital. The incident happened at the Exhibition Road area near Gandhi Maidan in the heart of the city, as some people in the crowd started jostling with each other to move forward, eyewitnesses said. [caption id=“attachment_1741973” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PM Modi at dusshera celebrations in Delhi. PTI[/caption] Patna’s citizens blamed the district police for keeping the exits shut for the revellers after the celebrations which led to the stampede. One reveller Manish Kumar, who runs a shop at Eastern Gandhi Maidan, claimed that he saw the stampede breaking out right in front of eyes and says, “This image will haunt me for a long time to come. People were desperately jostling with each other to exit from only two out of the 11 gates at the sprawling maidan kept open for the purpose.” Kumar, in his mid-20s, slammed the police for making inadequate security arrangements for the people, particularly for their exit after conclusion of ‘Ravan Vadh’ saying that no cops were present on the southern side of the Gandhi Maidan to regulate traffic and movement of people. “But for inept policing, loss of large number of lives could have been prevented,” he said and hinted that the toll must be much higher than being accounted by the administration. With inputs from PTI and IANS