N.Z. girls escape crush

Press, 7 December 1981, Page 8

N.Z. girls escape crush

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi A New Delhi District Court judge has been appointed to inquire into the crushing to death of 45 people, many of them children. in a stampede to leave an ancient tower on Friday. Judge Jagdish Chandra has been asked by the Government to submit his report in a month. Twenty people were also hurt on the narrow, spiral staircase of the 700-year-old Qutab Minar tower after its lights went off.

Two New Zealand girls, who gave their first names as Jackie and Marie, were among nearly 400 people trapped in the tower. Jackie told the “Statesman” newspaper: “We are lucky we got out alive. People ripped my clothes, stole my gold chain and watch." The only foreigner among the victims was a Singaporean, Elizabeth Emanuel, aged 21, who arrived on Thursday with her mother

from the southern city of Madras. Mrs Emanuel said her daughter insisted on climbing the tower against her advice. She was waiting outside when the stampede occurred. A procession was held in the old quarter of New Delhi to mourn the dead, mostly tourists frm neighbouring states. The 70-metre-high tower on New Delhi's. southern outskirts is a distinctive landmark and a main tourist attraction.