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
Showing posts with label ahsram. Show all posts
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