Holy dip ends in tragedy

Bhagabati Das, her daughter Rakhi Das and son-in-law Jony Das had just bathed in the Brahmaputra, holding each other's hands tight during their pilgrimage to Langalbandh to regain innocence.

They dipped in the river against the current and got onto the bank at Rajghat around 7:30am yesterday.

The tragedy struck moments after the three crossed a nearby bailey bridge.

Devotees flew into a panic on hearing rumours that the bridge was about to collapse. In the blink of an eye, a rushing crowd of devotees snatched the mother and daughter away from Jony.

A stampede there killed at least 10 people including Bhagabati, 48, and Rakhi, 25. Police reached the scene around 20 minutes later and recovered the bodies.

In the afternoon, Jony returned home in the capital's Lalbagh with the two bodies. He said he was holding his wife's hand until the rush of panic-stricken people forced him to let go of her.

Many children went missing after the stampede. A volunteers' platform, Sarodanjoly Forum Bangladesh, helped over 50 kids get reunited with their families.

Sumon Barman, chief coordinator of the platform, said they managed to get into the frenzied crowds and save the kids.

Hindu leaders blamed local criminals for spreading the rumours to rob devotees of valuables.  

Police handed over eight other bodies to the victims' families.

Priest Sangram Chakraborty was consoling the victims' family members: “Taking a dip in the Brahmaputra means getting rid of every sin. Your near and dear ones are now as clean as a white paper.”