AT least 144 people were killed and scores injured today in a massive stampede at a Hindu temple in the western state of Rajasthan, a senior state official said.
The disaster occurred as more than 25,000 worshippers clamoured to reach the 15th century Chamunda Devi temple in Jodhpur`s hill-top Mehrangarh Fort at the start of Navaratri, a major Hindu festival.
"The stampede began when people lost their footing and set off a chain reaction," Rajasthan`s Home Secretary SN Thanvi told AFP.
"We have 144 bodies in two government hospitals in Jodhpur," said Kiran Soni Gupta, a senior civil servant in the historic city.
Officials said about 150 people were hurt, many of them seriously.
Television footage showed devotees carrying limp bodies to police vehicles, with others desperately trying to resuscitate relatives and loved ones.
Temple crushes are common during religious festivities in India, where crowd control is often rudimentary or non-existent.
Officials said today`s stampede appeared to have started when a wall along the narrow path leading up to the temple collapsed, killing several people and then sparking widespread panic.
"I was to join my friend this morning to offer prayers but I was a little late," recalled a dazed-looking Jodhpur university student who gave his name as Manish.
"When I arrived, I saw chaos, people rushing around the place. I looked for my friend and after a while found him. He was unconscious but without serious injuries," Manish told AFP.
He said the path leading up to the temple shrine was very narrow with many people trying to get in at the time of the incident, as the auspicious time for offering prayers was about to begin.
Today`s stampede is the fourth such incident in India this year.
In August, around 150 Hindu worshippers died in a stampede in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. That was sparked by rumours of an impending landslide at a hill-top Hindu temple.
Six people died in a similar accident at a popular Hindu festival in July in the eastern state of Orissa, where about one million people had gathered in the town of Puri for an annual celebration. In March, nine people were killed and many more injured at a religious gathering in central India when a railing broke at the temple premises, leading to a stampede among 100,000 devotees.
In one of India`s deadliest ever stampedes, 257 people were killed during a Hindu pilgrimage in western Maharashtra state in January 2005.
Mother`s grief ... at least 144 people were killed and scores injured today in a massive stampede at a Hindu temple in Rajasthan.
Today`s Top Picks
Bloodbath after bailout blocked AUSTRALIA`S market has been sucked into the vortex of global financial crisis after the Bush bailout plan for Wall St failed.
