Devotees arrive to take a holy bath and perform rituals on Gangasagar Island, West Bengal, on January 14, 2017. Five people died in a stampede in Kachuberia jetty as there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata. | Photo Credit: AFPmore-inFive Gangasagar pilgrims, including a woman, died in a stampede at a jetty at Kachuberia in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Sunday. District officials said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including the woman, in the hospital. A total 16 lakh pilgrims took their holy dip in two days on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at the Gangasagar Mela, West Bengal Public Health Engineering and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee said.

Source: The Hindu January 15, 2017 14:59 UTC