24 hurt in stampede at vaccination camp in north Bengal

At least 24 people, including several women, were injured when a huge rush at a Covid-19 vaccination centre in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district led to a stampede on Tuesday, police said

At least 24 people, including several women, were injured when a huge rush at a Covid-19 vaccination centre in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district led to a stampede on Tuesday, police said.

Image for representation. (Bloomberg)

Eight people were admitted to Jalpaiguri district hospital and Birpara state general hospital. The rest were released after treatment. Nobody suffered any critical injury, said police officers who visited the spot.

The local administration announced two days ago that vaccines would be administered at Duramari Chandrakant High School in the Banarhat community block. A few hundred people gathered outside the school on Tuesday but the gates were not opened till around 10 am.

“More than 300 people were waiting outside the school. When police and local panchayat members opened the gate these people rushed in. It led to a stampede,” said Bhabani Roy, an eyewitness.

Deborshi Dutta, Jalpaiguri superintendent of police, said “The school authorities did not know about the camp. Possibly there was a communication gap. Police took the injured people to the hospital.”

Moumita Godara Basu, the district magistrate, said “The block development officer of Banarhat has been asked to probe the incident and submit a report by Wednesday.”