PANJIM, May 4 -- Team Herald

A day after the tragic stampede at the Shree Lairai Devi temple in Shirgao, which claimed six lives and left several others injured, the residents of Podocem recounted the horrific experiences of the incident.

Pravin Naik said, "The initial two lines of devotees expanded to six, causing the crowd to swell. Due to the slope of the terrain, devotees struggled to maintain their footing and began to fall."

He described a sudden surge from behind, which led to people collapsing on the ground, with those at the front of the lines suffering the most.

Naik said, "Surya Nayekar and his son Pandurang Nayekar were caught in the rush and, despite trying to escape, were unable to until someone pulled Pandurang to safet...