Goa stampede: Fact-finding committee begins probe into incident; Governor meets victims’ kin

Goa Governor P. S. Sreedharan Pillai visited families of Goa stampede victims on May 4, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Videograb: X/@ANI

Goa Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai on Sunday (May 4, 2025) visited the families of those who died in a stampede in north Goa’s Shirgao village in Bicholim taluk, where tens of thousands of devotees had thronged to participate in the annual ‘Lairai Jatra’ at the Shree Lairai Devi temple.

The Governor met the families of Sagar Shivkumar Nandadurgi (31) from Pilgaon in Bicholim, and Surya Pandurang Nayekar (62) from Khalapwada, Podocem, Sattari tehsil.

The four others who died in the tragic incident were Yeshwant Prabhakar Kerkar (33) from Madel, Thivim; Aditya Ankush Kauthankar (16) and Tanuja Shyamsundar Kauthankar (51), both from Avchit Wado, Thivim; and Pratibha Laxman Kalangutkar (54) from Tilu Kankonkar, Mangado, Corlim.

“This incident is beyond human expectation. State and Central governments are trying their best to help the victims. The State government has already announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh for the kin of those who died, and if something more is required, it will be done,” the Governor told media persons.

Also read: Goa stampede: Minor incident happened at same site during last year’s fest, says official

Nandadurgi’s 60-year-old mother, Sonia Nandadurgi, has not eaten since she heard of the death of her son. “My only son, why did this happen to him?” she cried, seeing the Governor at her home, along with police officials and medical staff.

“Sagar lost his father when he was a child and since then, my sister has been living here. Only two years ago, he got a job in a bank’s loan recovery department. Last year, he plastered the house. He has been a dhond (devotees of the deity, Laira Devi, who perform austerities before the yatra) for the last two years. He left home at 5.30 p.m. in a bus that goes to the temple, along with six of his friends. When the other dhonds pushed from behind, he fell on the road. Over 25 people fell on him and walked over him. He couldn’t survive. Since he was the only working person in the family, there is no financial support for my sister anymore. We have read in the newspapers that the government has announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the families of those who died but when the officials visited us, they did not mention anything about it,” Sagar’s maternal uncle, Sainath Kavlekar (45), who lives next door, said.

The Goa Government has formed a fact-finding committee headed by Commissioner-cum-Revenue Secretary Sandeep Jacques, who is expected to submit a report in a couple of days. A police official said that the committee is currently recording the statements of senior officials in-charge of crowd management to understand what went wrong. The committee learnt that a similar incident occurred last year, but did not result in fatalities or injuries.

“The slope is a narrow road and with stalls on both sides, and the area becomes even narrower. The committee is investigating why, despite being aware of the situation, precautions were not taken. Why did the temple committee allow stalls to be put up on both sides of the road leading to the temple. We are also examining whether a fight had broken between two groups of dhonds or a stick touched the bulb of a shop on the road, causing a short circuit, and some fell down and died on the spot,” the official said.

“Why is the temple committee being blamed for an incident that happened at least a kilometre away from the temple premises? It was an unfortunate accident that happened which no one could imagine would ever occur. We are being questioned on preparedness. It is unfair,” Dinanath Gaonkar, president of the Shree Lairai Devi Temple Committee said.

Opinion: The science is clear, crowd disasters are preventable

On Sunday (May 4, 2025), the Congress MP from south Goa, Viriato Fernandes, was criticised by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for his felicitation, with a shawl and flowers, by the temple committee. BJP spokesperson Giriraj Pai Vernekar called it “a shameful act”, especially when the State was mourning the tragic loss of lives.

Goa is observing a three-day period of mourning, from May 3 to May 5, over the tragic loss of lives. “No government event will take place till Monday (May 5, 2025),” the official said.

On Saturday (May 3, 2025) night, the Governor visited the injured persons admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital.