TRAGEDY

Hindu Festival Stampede Kills 33

Mostly women and children.

At least 33 people were killed and 29 injured in a stampede during a Hindu festival in Patna, India on Friday. Most of the fatalities were women and children. The festival, which celebrates the triumph of good over evil, drew huge crowds outside the Gandhi Maidan in Patna, the administrative capital of Bahir. Police are examining closed circuit surveillance to determine what caused the stampede. The government of Bihar is drawing criticism for not taking enough precautions to prevent such an incident during festival time. “In October last year there was an incident during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech when 80 people died. During the Hindu festival of Chhath Puja, similar incidents happened. Dussehra festival comes every year: how did this [tragedy] happen? If someone had sent a rumor, then why wasn't he stopped? Why where there no arrangements for exit? These are all serious questions on the government,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, federal minister for information technology and communication.