Purses and other belongings left behind by devotees lie on the floor of the Puja pandal. 19 people were killed in the stampede. (AP)

More than half of the 30 CCTV cameras at Kolkata’s Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal, where a stampede claimed 19 lives, did not work and were just “showpieces”, the investigation into the tragedy has revealed.

Investigators probing the incident have found that 17 out of the 30 CCTV cameras installed at the north Kolkata pandal were dysfunctional. The lack of adequate video footage has hindered the police’s efforts to piece together the sequence of events leading up to the stampede.

The biggest hurdle for the forensic team is the lack of adequate footage of the pandal’s exit gate. Of the three cameras installed there, two were not working, a source among the investigators said, adding that they are now relying on the footage recorded by the lone working camera.

“We seized two DVRs (digital video recorders) from Chorbagan.…