The Incident took place on Tuesday, August 31. According to the reports, several people were injured due to overcrowding led to a stampede at a vaccination camp in Jalpaiguri.
The camp was set up at a school in Jalpaiguri’s Banarhat. Around 2000 people had gathered there for the vaccine. However, as soon as the gates were opened by the police, all of the people tried to rush inside the school building at once.
Women, children, and older people fell to the ground resulting in complete chaos. A police officer was also injured while trying to help the people.
Jalpaiguri superintendent of police Deborshi Dutta said around 20 people were injured but, 15 were let off after first-aid, and five were admitted to the hospital. However, locals claimed that around 30 people were injured, and eight people were admitted to different hospitals.
When asked about what led to the stampede, a police officer said, ”We are probing the matter. According to a preliminary investigation, those who were in the queue tried to enter the center in the apprehension of a shortage of vaccine doses.” The inoculation program at the facility has been stopped following the incident, he added.
The situation was brought under control after a team of police officials were sent to help the injured people. Locals also rushed in to help take the injured to the hospitals.
Three people were taken to the Jalpaiguri Medical College Hospital for treatment, while the rest were treated at the primary health center.
Seeing this mishap, the government of West Bengal decided to distribute Covid vaccination coupons from door-to-door with dates and time slots for each person so that there is no repetition of this incident in the future.
The police have been asked to monitor the crowd at all vaccination centers, said Dr. Ajoy Chakraborty, Bengal’s director of health services.
