INDIA: At least 145 people, mostly women and children, crushed to death in stampede at a temple in northern India

Record ID: 1526828

  • Title: INDIA: At least 145 people, mostly women and children, crushed to death in stampede at a temple in northern India
  • Date: 4th August 2008
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Punjabi) BINA RANI, AN EYE WITNESS, SAYING: "The people moved backwards with force, the temple above was closed and the people started screaming that the temple has closed down and asked to return. It was very hot and the people slipped down from the stairs." KIN AND RELATIVES MOURNING
  • Embargoed: 19th August 2008 10:52
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA1RFELAD3OWQ80N0HXY9RZGMD9
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: At least 145 people, mostly women and children, died in a stampede at a temple in northern India on Sunday (August 3) when Hindu worshippers were snaking up a 4-km (2.5-mile) trail leading to the temple.
    At least 145 people, mostly women and children, were crushed to death under the feet of thousands of pilgrims in a stampede at a temple in northern India on Sunday (August 3), police said.
    Hindu worshippers, chanting and singing hymns, were snaking up a 4-km (2.5-mile) trail leading to a hill-top temple in Himachal Pradesh state when the stampede occurred.
    Police said the pilgrims might have panicked after heavy rains caused some loose stones from a retaining wall along the hilly trail to fall.
    The pilgrims started fleeing down the slope, breaking an iron side railing and trampling falling women and children under their feet, said Daljit Singh Manhas, a senior police officer.

    "We have confirmation now that 145 people have been killed,"
    he told Reuters. "We found eight to 10 stones which had fallen off and probably scared the people, causing the stampede."

    "We were pushed from above, the force broke down the ropes and wires resulting in a stampede. Rest, I don't know what happened," said Balbir Singh one of pilgrims being treated for injuries.
    At least 40 children and 45 women were among the dead, police and health department officials said.
    Thousands of worshippers had gathered at the temple in Bilaspur district to pray to a Hindu goddess during the annual festival.
    Authorities said at last 48 people were injured, but this figure could rise as dozens of people were admitted to private clinics as well.
    Witnesses said people jumped over broken railings and bodies to save themselves. Children lost their grip on their mothers' hands and were crushed under the feet of scared pilgrims.

    "The people moved backwards with force, the temple above was closed and the people started screaming that the temple has closed down and asked to return. It was very hot and the people slipped down from the stairs," eye witness Bina Rani said.
    Slippers, torn clothes and bags with flowers and offerings lay along the narrow path winding up the hill.
    People crowded into hospitals looking for injured relatives.
    More than 10,000 people were trying to get into the temple when the stampede began and police had been struggling desperately to keep the situation under control.
    Most of the worshippers were from the neighbouring state of Punjab, and their numbers rose sharply at the weekend.
    Stampedes at temples are not uncommon in India where thousands of people gather to pray during festivals. In 2005, about 265 pilgrims were killed in a stampede near a temple in the western state of Maharashtra
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