60 killed in stampede at Kripalu Maharaj's ashram

At least 60 people were killed and dozens more injured Thursday in a stampede at a temple in north India, police says.

The accident occurred when thousands of people crowded into the compound of a temple in Kunda, a small town 112 miles (180 kilometers) southeast of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, said Brij Lal, a senior local police official.

Mr. Lal said the death toll would likely go up as more details emerged from the accident site.

The temple is located in a compound that belongs to Kripalu Maharaj, a popular local religious leader.

Free clothes and utensils were being distributed at a religious function at the Ram Janki temple, which likely caused the stampede, Lal said.

As people jostled each other, a gate to the compound also fell, causing more injuries, he added.

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, more than 145 people died in a stampede at a remote Hindu temple at the foothill of the Himalayas