At least 27 people were killed and dozens injured Tuesday in a stampede during a Hindu religious festival on a river bank in southern India.
The stampede occurred in Andhra Pradesh state as tens of thousands of people pushed forward to bathe in the Godavari River on the first day of the Pushkaralu festival, said Arun Kumar, a state administrator.
The stampede was triggered by some pilgrims who were trying to retrieve their shoes, which had fallen off in the rush to the river bank, police said.
However The News Minute reported that the tragedy occurred when a large number of pilgrims rushed towards one of the gates at Kotagummam pushkar ghat on the banks of the river to take the holy dip. Though the main gate had not been opened, people tried to rush inside through one of the smaller gates.
Kumar said the incident, which occurred in the town of Rajahmundry, happened not long after the 12-day festival started in the early morning hours.
Andhra Pradesh Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has announced ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of the deceased.
An additional 34 people were hospitalised with injuries, Kumar said.
V. Satyanarayana, a pilgrim who was at the site, said the stampede lasted nearly 20 minutes.
It was a frightening situation, with women and children crying for help. The policemen on duty were helpless and it took more than an hour to bring the situation under control.
- V. Satyanarayanan, A pilgrim
Reactions
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed grief over the loss of lives in the stampede.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi also expressed their condolences.
The festival, also known as Godavari Pushkaram, is an Indian festival dedicated to worshipping rivers. It takes place once in every 12 years and celebrated for 12 days along the banks of 12 sacred rivers in the country.
MAJOR STAMPEDES AT RELIGIOUS PLACES
- Aug 25, 2014 - 10 pilgrims were killed and over 60 are believed to have suffered injuries in a stampede early Monday at Kamtanath Pahad Temple, about 80 kms away from Satna district headquarters, on the Madhya Pradesh-Uttar Pradesh border.
- Oct 13, 2013, during Navratri, a stampede broke out on a bridge near the Ratangarh MataTemple in Datia district, Madhya Pradesh, India, killing 115 people and injuring more than 110.
- Feb 11, 2013: 37 pilgrims killed and scores injured in a stampede at a railway station in Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad. The devotees were headed home from the Kumbh Mela.
- Nov 19, 2012: 18 killed and several injured in a stampede on a bridge over the Ganga river during Chhath Puja in Patna, Bihar.
- Jan 14, 2011: 104 pilgrims died on Makara Jyothi Day at Sabarimala in Kerala.
- Mar 4, 2010: 63 people, mostly women and children, killed in a stampede at a temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh.
- Sept 30, 2008: 224 pilgrims died in a stampede at Chamunda Devi temple in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur.
- Aug 3, 2008: 150 worshippers killed in a stampede at Naina Devi temple sparked by rumours of a landslide in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh.
- Jan 25, 2005: 340 people were killed in a stampede at Mandhar Devi temple Maharashtra’s Satara district. The accident happened when some people fell down on the steps made slippery by devotees breaking coconuts.
- Aug 27, 2003: 40 pilgrims killed and 125 injured in a stampede at Kumbh Mela in Nasik, Maharashtra.
With AP inputs
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