TL;DR: India recorded 3,253 stampede deaths between 2001 and 2024, with men accounting for 68% of fatalities during this period. However, the pattern shifted sharply in 2024, when women made up 87% of the 147 deaths recorded. Between 2014 and 2024, adults aged 30–45 accounted for the largest share of fatalities, followed by people aged 60 and above. Stampede cases also fluctuated widely, peaking at 557 in 2013 before falling to 25 in 2024. The data reveals sharp fluctuations in stampede cases and fatalities, with significant differences in the age and gender profiles of those killed.

Context

Durga Puja in Kolkata is a festival of movement. Families travel across neighbourhoods, friends plan pandal-hopping routes, and visitors from neighbouring districts join the crowds. On 17 October 2026, that familiar ritual turned deadly at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durgotsab Samity pandal in north Kolkata. Nineteen people died and 25 were injured. Thirteen of those who died were women.

Reports described a long queue, a narrow approach lane, a single exit, rain and a crowd surge following announcements near the pandal. Seven people were arrested, and the West Bengal government constituted a special investigation team headed by a retired Calcutta High Court judge. The state also announced compensation of ₹25 lakh for each deceased person’s family. The precise sequence of events and individual responsibility remain matters for investigation.

The incident also raises a question that national statistics rarely answer adequately: who dies when crowds turn dangerous? Looking at gender, age and injuries offers a different perspective from counting incidents by state or identifying the deadliest years. Our earlier analysis on State-wise Stampede deaths can be read here.

Who compiles this data?

The National Crime Records Bureau, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, compiles India’s annual Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) statistics using police-recorded data supplied by states and Union Territories.

Where can I download clean & structured data related to this?

Clean, structured, and ready-to-use datasets related to Year, State and Gender wise Deaths and Injuries due to Stampede Incidents can be downloaded from Dataful.

Key Insights

Nearly 1800 Stampede Cases registered since 2010

India recorded 25 stampede cases in 2024, down from a peak of 557 in 2013, and 1532 in 2009, according to the NCRB data. The annual count fluctuated considerably in the first half of the period: it fell from 314 in 2011 to 62 in 2012, before rising to 557 the following year.

The most striking shift came after 2015, when 424 cases were recorded. The count dropped to 31 in 2016 and has remained below that level in every year since. Between 2016 and 2024, annual cases ranged from a low of five in 2018 to a high of 31 in 2016.

A lower number of recorded cases does not necessarily mean that public gatherings have become safer. But the number of cases alone tells only part of the story. In 2009, Tamil Nadu recorded 1,437 stampede cases and 21 fatalities. Madhya Pradesh recorded far fewer cases, 37, but reported 37 fatalities. The comparison shows that a lower case count does not necessarily correspond to a lower death toll.

The number of incidents, the number of people exposed to risk and the severity of each incident are different measures. A year with relatively few incidents can still include a single disaster with a very high death toll.

Adults aged 30–45 accounted for the largest share of stampede deaths since 2014

Between 2014 and 2024, India recorded 1,010 deaths due to stampedes. People in the 30–45 age group accounted for 271 of these deaths, or nearly 27%, the largest share among the six reported age groups. They were followed closely by people aged 60 and above, with 265 deaths (26%), and those aged 18–30, with 229 deaths (23%).

Together, these three groups accounted for roughly three-fourths of all recorded fatalities during the period. Another 173 deaths were recorded among people aged 45–60. The two youngest categories accounted for a smaller share: 28 deaths were recorded among children below 14, and 44 among those aged 14–18. These describe the age distribution of those who died; they do not establish which age group faced the highest risk, because the number of people in each age group attending crowded events is not known.

The figures for older people, aged 60 and above, are especially influenced by one year. In 2015, 210 people aged 60 and above died in stampedes, accounting for nearly 80% of the 265 deaths recorded in that age group across the entire 2014–2024 period. That year also had the highest total death toll in the period, at 480. The concentration illustrates how individual years with large numbers of fatalities can shape the longer-term age profile.

Comparisons with earlier years, before 2014, require caution because NCRB changed its age categories in 2014. From 2001 to 2013, people aged 15–29 and 30–44 each accounted for about 29% of the 2,243 deaths recorded, whereas those aged 60 years and above accounted for 11% of the total deaths, while 8% of deaths occurred in the below-14-years age group.

Men accounted for two-thirds of stampede deaths

India recorded 3,253 deaths due to stampedes between 2001 and 2024. Of these, 2,214 were male, and 1,034 were female, approximately 68% and 32% of the total, respectively. Five deaths were recorded under the transgender category, all in 2014.

Men accounted for a particularly large share of fatalities in several years with high death tolls. In 2011, they made up 412 of the 489 deaths recorded, or 84%. In 2008, 358 of the 434 people who died were male, accounting for 82% of the total. Together, these two years contributed more than a third of all male stampede deaths recorded across the 24-year period.

The distribution was markedly different in 2024. Women accounted for 128 of the 147 deaths recorded that year, approximately 87%, while 19 men died. Women also formed a majority in 2005, when 200 of the 346 deaths recorded were female. In 2022, 12 of the 22 people who died were female.

Why does it matter?

Religious gatherings, festivals, political rallies and public celebrations bring large numbers of people into shared spaces across India. The risks vary with the venue, crowd size, movement patterns and available emergency facilities. Inadequate entry and exit routes, poor coordination or insufficient medical support can turn an otherwise routine gathering into a disaster.

Effective crowd management begins well before an event. Organisers must assess potential hazards, estimate attendance, plan entry and exit routes, deploy trained personnel and establish arrangements for medical care and emergency evacuation. With limited staff, equipment and funds, these preparations require clear priorities based on the likelihood and potential severity of different risks. Many crowd disasters are linked to preventable failures in planning, coordination and crowd control.

Key Numbers

• Registered Stampede Cases in India
  2009: 1532 ; 2014: 139 ; 2019: 14 ; 2024: 25

• Age profile of fatalities (2014–2024): Total recorded deaths: 1010
  27%: Aged 30-45 years
  26%:  Aged 60 and Above years
  23%: Aged 18-30 years

• Gender profile of fatalities (2001–2024): Total recorded deaths: 3253, of which
  Male: 68% (2214) and Female: 32% (1034)