A stampede at a temple during a Hindu religious festival left at least 11 pilgrims dead and dozens injured in eastern India early yesterday, police said.
Thousands of people tried to force their way into the temple when its gates opened at daybreak in Deoghar, a town in Jharkhand State, police officer Subodh Kumar said.
At least 11 pilgrims, including eight women, died and another 24 were injured, Kumar said. The injured were being treated at a local hospital.
Photo: AFP
He said tens of thousands of people were participating in a month-long festival at the Baidyanath Jyotirlinga Temple which is dedicated to Shiva, the destroyer.
Nidhi Kumari, a pilgrim who was waiting to enter the temple, said: “Suddenly there was a push and we all fell down.” She managed to escape the crush.
Dilip Kumar, another devotee, said that he saved himself by running away from the crowds in the town 255km south of Patna, the capital of Bihar State.
Deadly stampedes are fairly common during Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with few safety or crowd control measures.
Last month, 27 people died when tens of thousands of pilgrims taking part in a Hindu religious bathing festival triggered a massive stampede on a riverbank in southern India’s Andhra Pradesh State.
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