Death toll now 14, viral video of alleged stampede surfaces

Navi Mumbai: With one more death reported on Tuesday, the toll of the heatstroke deaths at the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony has gone up to 14. The person who died has been identified as Swati Rahul Vaidya (38) from Virar who was in MGM Hospital, Vashi. None of the doctors from the Navi Mumbai municipal corporation, where the post-mortem was conducted, were available to comment on the cause of death.

Meanwhile, videos claiming to be of the Kharghar event have emerged on social media. A huge crowd of people can be seen running and trampling what appear to be one or two dead bodies. In the background are ambulances, and men wearing identity cards identical to those worn by volunteers on the day of the event.

“I will verify if the video is of the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony,” said Navi Mumbai police commissioner Milind Bharambe. “After the event on Sunday, we went through all the CCTV footage but did not see a stampede-like situation anywhere. At the J Kumar chowk, we saw crowds but it was more like the crowding in local trains and not like a stampede. We did see people exhausted and seated while their relatives fanned them.”

However, Sunil Mestry, brother of the deceased Meenakshi Mestry (58) from Vasai said, “After my sister’s last rites, when the other women who had accompanied her visited us, they told us that my sister had got caught in a stampede and the crowd stepped over her to go ahead. On Wednesday, I will go to the Kharghar police station and give a written complaint, asking for an investigation. The Maharashtra government organised the event and it was responsible for seeing it through properly. It reportedly gave a ₹13-crore contract to some party to arrange this event. The police should find who that party was and take appropriate action.”