Six pilgrims, all women, suffocated to death during a mad rush to board a vessel from the crowded jetty on their way home from Gangasagar fair in West Bengal on Sunday after taking the holy dip, a state minister said. They had fallen senseless due to suffocation,” state Sundarbans Development Minister Manturam Pakhira, told IANS over phone from the area. Naval divers have been deployed to search for anyone who may have fallen into Muriganga river (distributor of the Hooghly river) during the mad rush, officials said. State Panchayat and Public Health Engineering Minister Subrata Mukherjee said the pilgrims were involved in a mad rush to board the vessels in view of the approaching low tide which would have halted launch movement on the river for hours. The Ganga Sagar Mela is rated as the second largest assembly of people after the quadrennial Kumbha Mela (fair).

Source: Hindustan Times January 15, 2017 13:55 UTC