India: Was inaction by officials responsible for Kochi college stampede that killed 4, injured 50?

Four people, of which three students of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) in Kerala’s Kochi city, were killed and more than 50 were injured in a stampede, during a cultural event on Saturday evening.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, questions were being raised about the kind of security arrangements in place at the event venue, which had footfalls of around 2,000.

An internal letter from the university authorities was doing the rounds on Monday, indicating serious lapses on the part of the officials. 

The gruesome stampede took place in the run-up to a concert at an open-air venue, which was hosting ‘Dhishna 2023’—a three-day tech fest. Saturday (Nov 25) marked the second day of the event.

Despite the event being quite a large one, it is said that there was no commensurate police deployment at the venue.

Kochi Police have maintained that the CUSAT authorities did not alert them or write to them seeking security arrangements for the event. It is said that the stampede occurred at the entrance gate, which leads to a flight of stairs before entering the main venue.

Owing to the congestion at the gate and the resultant melee, many are said to have tripped and fallen down the stairs, with others falling on top. 

According to an internal letter from CUSAT, dated November 24, the principal wrote to the registrar of CUSAT, also marking a copy to the Head of Department, School of Engineering and the CUSAT Security Officer.

Carrying a subject line, ‘DHISHNA -2023- Police and Security Arrangement during Off-Campus Musical Program’, the letter specifies about music programmes that were to be held on Friday and Saturday evenings at the venue that would be accessible to the public.

It also states that faculty members have been assigned duties for maintaining overall discipline and emphasised the need for deploying security personnel and police to avoid untoward incidents. 

While the letter undersigned by the principal requested adequate security personnel and police presence for the events on Friday and Saturday evenings, it also raises the question of whether the authorities were late in seeking security for the event.

The letter carries the date November 24, which also happens to be the date of event commencement.

Usually, police protection and security deployment for such events are planned well ahead. Authorities in Kerala are probing the incident and as part of this investigation on Monday, a team visited the open-air venue when the mishap had taken place.