Nepal

Katmandou, 18 October 2026. Nepalese media are treating the stampede that occurred in Calcutta during the Durga Puja festival as a news item from neighboring India, mainly relayed through a Reuters dispatch and a report from the West Bengal authorities.

The Kathmandu Post, which reprints Reuters, reports on a stampede that killed "at least 17" people. The daily specifies that the festival, celebrated over several days each year in the state of West Bengal, attracts considerable crowds to temporary structures, the pandals, which house the idols of the goddess Durga. According to local television cited in the dispatch, the accident occurred at the exit gate, in the Girish Park neighborhood, after heavy rain caused congestion: many devotees were trying to leave the premises at the same time. Dozens of people were injured, according to the text.

The official dimension occupies a large place. The Kathmandu Post indicates that the office of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced, in a message posted on the X network, a compensation of 200,000 rupees (approximately $2,106) for the relatives of each victim and 50,000 rupees for each injured person.

Khabarhub, an online English-language media outlet, adopts a more institutional tone. It reports that West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari confirmed on Saturday that 17 people had died and 25 others were injured in the stampede that occurred at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in Calcutta. He promised that all necessary support would be provided to the affected families and that an investigation into the incident would be conducted.

The two texts converge on the location, city, and scope of the tragedy, but they are not entirely identical: one highlights the rain and the exit from the site, the other the toll of 17 dead and 25 injured and the commitments of the regional government. The provided articles say nothing about the organizers' arrests or alternative explanations for the origin of the crowd movement, and the Nepalese press does not question here the security of large religious gatherings. It sticks to what the Indian authorities and local press say: a toll, a reported meteorological cause, compensation, and an announced investigation.