President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders have expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives in the stampede at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata. In a social media post, President Murmu conveyed her heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured.

 

The Vice President also extended his condolences to the families of the deceased and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

 

Prime Minister Modi described the incident as extremely distressing and expressed his condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones. He also prayed for the early recovery of the injured and said the West Bengal Government was providing all possible assistance to those affected. Mr Modi announced an ex-gratia of two lakh rupees from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund to the next of kin of each person who lost their life in the stampede. The injured will receive fifty thousand rupees each.

 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy. In a social media post, Mr Shah said he spoke to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari regarding the incident. Mr. Shah conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured. He said the administration was providing all possible medical assistance to those injured. The Home Minister also announced that he has postponed all his scheduled programmes in West Bengal for today. He will visit the injured in hospital today.

 

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also expressed grief over the loss of lives in the stampede. In a social media post, Mr Singh said he was deeply saddened by the tragedy and extended his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. Mr. Singh prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.