Five persons — including four women and a child — died on the spot. Two others succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.

“The rush to get accommodated on the first ferry resulted in the stampede,” said Surajit Kar Purakayasta, IG, Law and Order.

The incident took place around 5.30 am after a few hundred devotees started jostling to board the ferry, which was running two hours late.

“The ferry was delayed due to the low tide,” said Khalil Ahmed, District Magistrate, South 24-Parganas. “The pilgrims were trying to board the first boat to Sagar Islands at Kakdwip. They had entered the jetty area breaking through the barricade and the crowd could not be controlled.”

The huge crowd had gathered at the jetty number III at Lot-8 in Kachuberia. Though the other two jetties (II and IV) were operational, there was no other ferry at the time. As the first ferry reached at 5.30 am, the crowd surged forward. People skidded on the makeshift staircases and got trampled on.

According to a senior police officer, the victims have been identified as Sarboti Devi (70), a resident of Haryana, Aditya Giri (5), a resident of Samastipur (Bihar), Ajaria Devi (75), a resident of UP, Rukmini Devi (75), a resident of Banka (Bihar), Kishori Devi (52), a resident of Deoria (UP), Meena Devi (50), a resident of Gaya (Bihar) and a 50-year-old unidentified woman.

The injured pilgrims were taken to Diamond Harbour Hospital and Kakdwip State General Hospital.

Asit Das from Deulti, North 24-Parganas, who was an eyewitness to the incident, said the situation was a case of total mismanagement by the administration. “Not a single police officer or volunteer was present at the spot to control the crowd.”

Kar Purakayasta, however, denied the allegation and said several police officers were on duty at the spot.

Union minister of state for information and broadcasting Chowdhury Mohan Jatua alleged that the rush was a result of the 12-hour district bandh called by the CPM on Wednesday. He said the zilla parishad will provide Rs 5 lakh to families of the victim.

Admitting that the government had failed to make the necessary security arrangements, Sreekumar Mukhopadhyay, state minister for civil defence, said a communication gap between officials led to the jetty barricades being opened untimely, leading to the rush. “If we play blame games over the dead, it will not be good for the state’s image. It is best that we do not politicise the matter,” he added.