India, Oct. 18 -- An hour of rain, enough to slick the streets but not enough to keep revellers away from Durga Puja pandals on Saptami; a cramped bylane with narrow entry and exit gates; lack of crowd management and a mic announcement warning of a possible structural collapse appear to have led to Saturday's stampede at Kolkata's Chore Bagan, which left 19 dead.

Preliminary statements by the local police and accounts from eyewitnesses suggested that a raft of factors came together and contributed to the disaster during Kolkata's biggest festival.

The stampede occurred around 7.30pm, at one of the city's most popular Durga Puja venues, in cramped north Kolkata. The area is less than 2km from Howrah Bridge, is one of Kolkata's oldest Dur...