BICHOLIM/PANAJI
The State was plunged into shock, grief and gloom after six persons were killed while around 80 others were injured in a stampede at the famous Devi Lairai Zatra at Shirgao in the wee hours of Saturday.
According to reports, the incident, the first of its kind in the State, took place sometime around 4 am when thousands of people were in and around the temple. They had gathered to watch the devotees known as Dhonds who were to walk barefoot on the burning embers in the wee hours of Saturday.
A large number of people had also converged along the narrow road, which had houses and temporary stalls on both sides further reducing the road access.
While different theories were doing the rounds as to the exact cause of the stampede, the Devasthan Committee President Dinanath Gaonkar claimed that there had been some arguments between two groups of Dhonds. He claimed that a devotee accidentally touched an electric bulb as people were pushing to get ahead. The devotee then fell on others in the densely packed crowd.
Some rumours were reportedly spread in the area, causing further confusion.
In the ensuing chaos, hundreds of people tried to rush out of the narrow road when many fell down and got crushed in a stampede, as people tried to flee from the site.
According to an eyewitness account, an elderly woman slipped while devotees were moving away and when some tried to help her, others coming from behind fell on them.
The horror of the tragedy began to unfold as dozens of people were injured in the stampede. Police teams along with locals and devotees shifted the injured persons to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Bicholim, the Sankhali CHC, the North Goa District Hospital at Mapusa and the GMC hospital in Bambolim.
Four persons – Surya Mayekar (62) of Podocem-Sattari, Pratibha Kalangutkar (54) Corlim, Aditya Kauthankar (16) Auchit Wada, Tivim, and Tanuja Kauthankar (51) Auchit Wada, Tivim – were declared dead at the Mapusa hospital while two others – Yeshwant Kerkar (33) of Tivim and Sagar Nandadurgi (31) of Pilgao – were declared dead at the Bicholim CHC.
Many of the persons who sustained minor injuries were later discharged from the hospitals after receiving treatment.
People in the area were in shock over the tragedy, with many blaming the police over their inability to handle the situation despite being present at the zatra in huge numbers.
Eyewitnesses blamed overcrowding and poor crowd control, while devotees at the site also alleged that there had been a failure in crowd management by the authorities.
CM, OFFICIALS RUSH TO SHIRGAO
On receiving news of the tragedy, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant rushed to the Bicholim CHC at about 5.15 am to enquire about the condition of the injured persons, and to take stock of the situation.
He also met the injured who were admitted at the Mapusa North District hospital and the GMC hospital. He also expressed condolences to the relatives of the deceased persons.
The chief minister later visited the scene of the tragedy in Shirgao, where he was briefed by district and police officials, and the temple committee members. He noted that the narrow road with temporary stalls on both sides had hampered the free flow of devotees.
The chief minister said he had issued instructions to ensure all necessary medical treatment and the government’s full support to the victims of the Shirgao tragedy.
Bicholim MLA Chandrakant Shetye and Mayem MLA Premendra Shet also rushed to the hospital to enquire about the patients.
Officials including North Goa Collector Dr Sneha Gitte, North Goa SP Akshat Kaushal, and Bicholim DySP Jivba Dalvi also rushed to Shirgao to take stock of the incident.
