Man dies in bank crush

TT, Lucknow, Nov. 22: A 60-year-old farmer was crushed to death inside a bank yesterday morning after people broke queue and rushed in out of turn the minute the collapsible gates were thrown open.

This is possibly the first death in a mini stampede near the bank counters since demonetisation was announced on November 8. Ramnath Kushwaha's face and chest were crushed inside the Tarkulwa branch of the State Bank of India in Uttar Pradesh's Deoria district, sources said.

Kushwaha had been standing in queue along with at least 50 others outside the bank since 7am in the hope of exchanging old notes and withdrawing Rs 10,000 to settle the hospital bills of his daughter-in-law who had given birth to a boy.

By the time the gates opened at 10.30am, people had grown so impatient that they charged inside to reach the counters first. Many, including Kushwaha, fell and were trampled in the melee.

Bank officials sent for an ambulance soon after the situation was brought under control. Kushwaha, who is from Gulriha-Kanakpura village, was taken to the nearby community health centre, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Branch manager Vijay Bahadur Singh told reporters in Tarkulwa, about 375km from Lucknow, he had been on way to the bank when the incident happened. "My colleagues informed me," he said.

A witness said the gates had been opened only partially to let one person in at a time. "There was space for only one person to pass through the gate. But Kushwaha was pushed inside by those standing behind him," he told this newspaper over the phone today.

"Some 50-60 people stand outside the gates of every bank in Deoria every morning and wait for it to open. The numbers are increasing every day."

Kushwaha has three sons. His eldest son works with a private company in Delhi. The other two live with him in the village and help with farming.

Child dies in bank

A four-year-old girl suffering from fever died on the premises of a bank in Uttar Pradesh's Banda while her father was waiting in queue to withdraw money, reports PTI. Dharmendra Verma, a labourer, had brought the child to Allahabad Gramin Bank so he could directly take her to hospital.