15.10.13

Fear and Panic at Ratangarh

stampede at Ratangarh - photo


The tragedy unfolded over a bridge plying across Sindh river which was already engorged after the rain. About 20,000 people populated the 400 metre bridge, but many were unaware that they wouldn't make it to the other side. Pilgrims had gathered to take part in Navratri festival which was being celebrated all across the country. The prologue to the episode was setup earlier when pilgrims suspected that this bridge at Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh, India, was about to collapse after a collision broke off some railings which spurred rumours regarding its imminent demise.



As the 20,000 were crossing it, the mob mentality clicked hard and everyone began to panic that the bridge was collapsing. I'm guessing it was started off by some kind of audible creaks of those broken railings. As with any kind of mob, the reactions spread thick and fast even prompting the police to react negatively with their lathis trying to beat the panicked crowd into submission. This only aggravated the situation.

People jumped off the bridge into the river as well, while the majority deaths occured by pilgrims getting stampeded.

115 fatalities have been confirmed and it may rise as many of the injured pilgrims are still languishing in hospital beds with varying levels of injury.



It's a pity.

This bridge is no strange bedfellow to misery as 50 pilgrims were swept off to Patala when they jumped off the bridge in 2006 while avoiding being crushed in a similar stampede.

Third world civilzation puts an onus on its citizens to become statistics rather than human beings.




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