Stampede death toll in India climbs to 115
Print Edition
Outrage mounted in India yesterday after at least 115 devotees were crushed to death or drowned near a Hindu temple, the site of another deadly stampede only seven years ago.
As survivors of Sunday’s tragedy on a bridge recounted how desperate mothers threw their children into the water below, authorities came under fire over policing levels amid claims the panic was aggravated by baton-charging.
Medics were also battling to save the lives of 10 people classified as critically ill after the stampede in the town of Ratangarh in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
“The death toll has now gone up to 115 and more than 110 injured,” deputy police inspector general D. K. Arya said. “Ten of those are in a very critical state.”
The operation to recover the bodies had been finished and police investigators were now scouring the site.
The tragedy cast a long shadow over celebrations marking the end of one of the holiest festivals on the Hindu calendar.
Police said the panic had been sparked by rumors the bridge was about to collapse.
Up to 400,000 devotees were already inside or around the temple when the stampede took place while there were around 20,000 people on the bridge which spans the river Sindh.
Large crowds began converging on the site from early morning, according to witnesses.
They were taking part in the penultimate day of the nine-day Navaratri festival, which is dedicated to the worship of the Hindu goddess Durga.
The disaster came seven years after another stampede outside the same temple when more than 50 people were crushed to death while crossing the river. The bridge was built after that.
“Cops learnt no lessons from 2006 stampede,” read a headline in The Hindustan Times, saying the tragedy “underlines the sheer ineptitude of the authorities responsible for the safety and security” of devotees.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a senior figure in the Bharatiya Janata Party, was facing calls to resign over the tragedy.
“Had there been adequate police, administration and health officials at the temple site, the loss of lives could have been averted,” said Kantilal Bhuria, the leader of the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh.
Manoj Sharma, one of the survivors, described a scene of utter mayhem.
“People were jumping off the bridge to save themselves, but they could not swim against the tide. I also saw children being tossed from the bridge, only to be washed away,” he told the Times of India.
Man Singh, a fruitseller who had set up shop near the temple, cast doubt on the official death toll, saying some survivors had already left with the bodies of their loved ones before rescue services arrived.
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