Stampede kills dozens at temple
Source: Agencies |
March 5, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
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AT least 63 people were dead as a stampede broke out at a Hindu temple in Kunda, India, yesterday as thousands of people jostled one another to get free clothes and food, officials said.
Dozens more were injured and most of the victims were women and children, officials said.
"At least 37 among the dead are children and 26 of them are women," senior police officer Mahesh Mishra told Reuters.
The force of the stampede was so great that it knocked down a gate at the temple compound in the small town 180 kilometers southeast of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state.
About 44 worshippers were injured in the crush of people at a temple belonging to a popular local religious leader, Ashok Kumar, a senior government official, told The Associated Press.
Thousands of farmers and villagers had gathered at the temple around noon to receive free goods to mark the anniversary of the death of the wife of the religious leader, Kripalu Maharaj, said Brij Lal, a local police official.
According to Kumar, by late afternoon police had cleared the compound and started the process of identifying the bodies.
Hundreds of people gathered at a nearby hospital for news of their family members.
"She had just wandered in to see what was happening," the AP quoted Gudal, a 38-year-old farmer whose seven-year-old daughter, Ranjana, was killed. Gudal, who uses only one name, wept as she spoke.
Leelawati, 32, cried as she waited to see the body of her 11-year-old daughter, Lakshmi, who also died in the stampede.
Deadly stampedes are a relatively common occurrence at temples in India, where large crowds - sometimes hundreds of thousands of people - congregate in small areas lacking facilities to control big gatherings.
In 2008, at least 285 people died in two temple stampedes in northern India.
Dozens more were injured and most of the victims were women and children, officials said.
"At least 37 among the dead are children and 26 of them are women," senior police officer Mahesh Mishra told Reuters.
The force of the stampede was so great that it knocked down a gate at the temple compound in the small town 180 kilometers southeast of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state.
About 44 worshippers were injured in the crush of people at a temple belonging to a popular local religious leader, Ashok Kumar, a senior government official, told The Associated Press.
Thousands of farmers and villagers had gathered at the temple around noon to receive free goods to mark the anniversary of the death of the wife of the religious leader, Kripalu Maharaj, said Brij Lal, a local police official.
According to Kumar, by late afternoon police had cleared the compound and started the process of identifying the bodies.
Hundreds of people gathered at a nearby hospital for news of their family members.
"She had just wandered in to see what was happening," the AP quoted Gudal, a 38-year-old farmer whose seven-year-old daughter, Ranjana, was killed. Gudal, who uses only one name, wept as she spoke.
Leelawati, 32, cried as she waited to see the body of her 11-year-old daughter, Lakshmi, who also died in the stampede.
Deadly stampedes are a relatively common occurrence at temples in India, where large crowds - sometimes hundreds of thousands of people - congregate in small areas lacking facilities to control big gatherings.
In 2008, at least 285 people died in two temple stampedes in northern India.
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