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Sheer helplessness
Megha Mann
Tribune News Service
Anandpur Sahib, August 4
“I saw three children of two to three years dying right in front of me. And I could do nothing," says Jasbir Kaur from Barnala. She was too shocked to continue and burst into tears. When people started running helter-skelter, Jasbir Kaur fell down and people were running. Just a few metres ahead she saw, two pairs of small legs moving, as if in terrible pain, and suddenly two children fell dead on the ground. She tried to close her eyes but again saw yet another child dying in same manner. Another member of her group, Bharpur Kaur was fortunate to have saved two children. "When I fell on the ground, two children beside me lay unconscious and were crying for water. Somehow I managed to take
handful of rain water from nearby nullah and put it into the children’s mouths. They survived,” she said. Jasbir and Bharpur Kaur were amongst hundreds of victims who survived but are reluctant to re-visit the shrine. People like Salma, from Kupp Kalan village in Malerkotla recalled the police lathi- charging to disperse the crowd. “And the next moment everybody was in a hurry to get down the hill. Someone picked me up and passed me over the crowd. And them followed my son. I had nearly lost my daughter, who was later traced with her uncle,” she said. Inderjit Singh from Khanna blamed the administration for not reacting to the situation at the earliest. “ For three hours, the police did not allow anybody to touch the dead. Help reached after four hours of the incident,” he said People recalled the horrific scene of bodies being swung into the air and thrown outside. Bodies were piled up one upon another. Many women kept on screaming telling people to handle their child’s body respectfully, but all pleas fell on deaf ears. Many women fell unconscious seeing this. round 10 teams were formed to do post-mortem examinations of over 145 bodies. This was first time ever, the civil hospital at Anandpur Sahib witnessing such a large number of bodies. Even the doctors conducting post-mortem tests had tough time. The team worked till 2 am conducting post-mortems, preparing reports and handing over bodies to the relatives. “Many doctors have reported high emotional stress and are unable to work. It was too depressing for everybody,” said Dr Ashok Sharma. Only volunteers of social and religious organisations helped victims. None of the health officials or workers from Himachal lent a helping hand. The administration, police and health teams from Ropar and Anandpur Sahib worked round the clock irrespective of hardships. Meanwhile, the volunteers of Qila Anandgarh Sahib, who have been working to provide relief to victims of stampede, have called upon the Himachal government to start work on the road leading to Naina Devi, which is a shambles. On behalf of Qila Anandgarh Sahib head Baba Labh Singh, dera official Baba Jarnail Singh said, “The stretch from Kolan Wala Tobba in Anandpur Sahib is in ruins and needs immediate attention. If HP government will not start work on road, we would be forced to do it, which would be major embarrassment for the government.”
List of
dead
Our Correspondent
Bilaspur, August 4
At least a total 140 persons, who became unfortunate victims of a
stampede at shrine of Shri Nainadevi temple, have been identified. The
list of the dead was released by the district administration here this
evening.
The list includes nine persons from Himachal Pradesh out of whom
eight belong to one family of Santosh Garh in Una district and one
person Tarsem of Chadiar village.
Those of Santosh Garh are Balbir Chabba, Tarsem Chand, Bimla devi,
Vishakgha Devi, Chanchal Chabba, Kiran Bala, Lalita and Shipali, Santosh
Garh.
Sixtynine persons, including 29 females, have been identified from
Punjab. These are — Bant Singh, Patiala; Balbir Singh, Patiala; Babu
Singh, Sangrur; Angrej Singh, Mansa; Tarun Kumar, Patiala; Labhreet
Singh, Barnala; Gurcharan Singh, Bhatinda; Dev Dass, Barnala; Harbans
Singh, Sangrur; Pravin Sharma, Sangrur; Yadvinder Singh, Patl Singh,
Patiala; Rohit, Patiala; Manpreet, Mansa; Lakhvinder Singh, Samana.
The women are — Sushma, Rajpura; Seema Devi, Rajura; Kanchan,
Samana; Krishna, Rajpura; Ruchi, Manjeet kaur, Patiala.
Kamaljeet kaur, Babudevi, Barnala; Garima Verma, Bandlade; Pooja Devi,
Muitu Ram Milan Kaur, Mansa. Rekharani, Budlada; Surjeet Kaur, Sangrur;
and Mohindra, Bhatinda.
Kinni, Shimlauri, Renu, Ludhiana and Sunita, Samana; Jaswant Kaur,
Patiala. Mandeep Kaur, Kulwinder Kaur, Darshana; Harbans Kaur, Poonam,
Nabha; Manjeet Kaur, Patiala.
Neelam Rani, Mansa; Gurmeet, Fatehpur; Pooja, Moga; Kiran Jeet Kaur,
Moga; Ranjeet Kaur Mansa.
Other men victims of this tragedy are — Ashutosh, Neeraj kumar,
Patiala; Krishan, Manjeet, Patiala; Bitu Ram, Patta; Gian Ram, Samana;
Jai Pal, Samana; Kulwant, Patiala; Gurmeet Singh, Ludhiana; Amandeep,
Muktsar; Vikram, Charanjeet Singh, Batoli; Kajd Ram, Batoli; Jagdish
Singh, Patiala; Raj kumar, Sangrur.
Sukhdev, Barnala, Ashok Kumar, Nabha; Sagar Batra, Nabha; Amandeep
Singh, Bhatinda; Hunny, Samana; Gurcharan Singh, Bhatinda; Balmukund,
Muktsar; Jaswinder Singh, Moga; Harbans Singh, Sangrur; Devu Ram,
Barnala; and Vikar Singh, Budhlada.
Men from Haryana are — Vinit kumar, Sirsa; Ankit, Ambala; Ajay
Kumar, Jind; Deepak, Fatehabad; Nishi, Fatehabad; Vicky Saini, Tohana;
Soni, Fatehabad; and Lovely, Jaghsoi, Haryana.
Women are — Gurmeet, Malkeet Kaur, Jamalpur; Pooja, Tohana;
Mohinder, Fatehabad. Komal, Panipat; Mohinder Devi, Panipat; Sapna,
Fatehabad and Suman from Sunam.
Other persons identified are-Manpreet, Ambala; Satpal, Patiala; Garja
Ram, Ludhiana; Pyara Singh, Patiala; Balwant Singh, Patiala; Balbir
Singh, Patiala; Pritpal Singh, Patiala; Jasmin and Ajeet, Fatehabad;
Sonu, Mansa and Ashu of Dolu Mansa.
Surinder Pal Kaur, Sangrur; Shakuntla Devi, Sunam; Simri, Payal Arora,
Kiran, all from Badrokha in Sangrur district. Muni Kaur, Bhatinda; Bhura
kaur, Talwandi; Nasib Kaur, Rampura; Shanti Devi, Patiala; Golu, Tiwana;
Paramjeet Kaur, Barnala; Sonu, Fatehabad and Raj kumari from Mansa.
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