A 40-year-old woman died and several others were injured in a stampede at a Shivajinagar hall in Bengaluru, where over 3000 people had turned up to collect tokens for free rations during next year’s Ramzan.
The tokens were being distributed by a businessman, Syed Asif, at AKP convention hall, Bamboo Bazaar in Shivajinagar on Wednesday. People from other districts and neighbouring states had also arrived at the venue, reported The Times of India.
The deceased, identified as Zeenathunnisa, was a resident of DJ Halli area in Bengaluru. She lived with her husband, who words in a hardware shop, and three sons.
Zeenathunnisa and her neighbour Ruksana Begum had gone to collect the tokens.
According to Ruksana, they reached the hall at night and were waiting outside the gates till morning.
Ruksana said that thousands had gathered there by midnight to collect the tokens.
Police said that as soon as the gates to the hall were opened, people started rushing inside. Some of them, who lost balance, fell over each other. Zeenathunnisa lost consciousness when she fell down.
“Women and men jostled to get in. There was a lot of pushing; it was chaotic. Some tried to scale the compound wall. We saw a few women climbing vehicles parked near the compound and jumping inside,“ Tanzeem Ismail, an eyewitness, said.
Zeenathunnisa was shifted to a private hospital, where she was declared brought dead.
Fifteen people, who were reportedly injured, were given first aid and are out of danger.
The Shivajinagar police were informed.
A senior police officer said, “The doctors who examined her said that she died of a heart attack. But a case of unnatural death has been registered and we are awaiting the post-mortem report.”