At least nine people have died and dozens injured in a crowd surge at a popular Hindu temple in southern India, local authorities said, according to UNN with reference to AP.
Details
The incident occurred at the Swami Venkateswara temple in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, where hundreds of devotees had gathered to celebrate one of Hinduism's sacred days, "Ekadashi," senior police officer K. V. Maheshwara Reddy told The Associated Press.
On this day, devotees fast and pray to the god Vishnu, a key Hindu deity.
Preliminary investigation shows that an iron railing designed to hold the queue of devotees at the temple broke, leading to an uncontrolled crowd surge, Reddy said.
Senior local government official Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar said there were fears of more casualties. "Initially, we reported seven deaths, but two more people have died from their injuries, while two others are in critical condition," he said.
Among the dead are eight women and one child, Pundkar said, adding that at least 16 devotees injured in the crowd are being treated at a local hospital, while 20 others are in shock and under observation at another hospital.
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Local media footage showed people rushing to help those who had fainted in the crowd and were suffocating. Some of them were rubbing the hands of those who had fallen to the ground.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh's highest elected official N. Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief and condolences to the families of the deceased.
Andhra Pradesh state authorities said it was a private temple on 12 acres (4.8 hectares) of land, not controlled by the state administration. Despite a maximum capacity of 3,000 people, the crowd grew to approximately 25,000 on Saturday.
"No appropriate measures were taken, nor was information provided to the government by the responsible person. This is the cause of the accident," the state's social media fact-checking department said in a statement.
Naidu promised to take strict action against those responsible for the deadly stampede and ordered an investigation into the incident, local media reported.
Let's add
Crowd surges at religious gatherings are not uncommon in India, where large groups of people often gather at temples or pilgrimage sites, sometimes overwhelming local infrastructure and safety measures.
In July, at least six people died and dozens were injured in a crowd surge at a popular Hindu temple in northern India.