(September 30, Jodhpur, Sri Lanka Guardian) At least 147 people have been killed and over 425 injured in a major stampede at the Chamunda Devi Temple in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, where devotees had gathered in large numbers on the occasion of the start of Navaratri.
A police official said there is difficulty in giving the exact figures as most of the people have taken the dead bodies of their near and dear ones fearing post-mortem.
At least 30 bodies have been brought to the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital at Jodhpur, while the remaining 10 were taken to the Mathura Das Hospital, Divisional Commissioner Kiran Soni Gupta was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
Gupta confirmed that 80 people had indeed been killed.
Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said, "Enough police deployment was ensured to avoid an eventuality but the rush was just too much."
According to some eyewitnesses, a rumour of a bomb being planted in the temple was the reason that the stampede started.
It is feared the number of casualties may go up.
In August this year, a stampede outside the Naina Devi temple left 145 pilgrims dead.
Authorities have already ordered a probe into possible organisational lapses that led to a stampede outside the Naina Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh.
Rumours of a landslide had triggered that stampede. The pilgrims ran down a narrow mountain trail from the temple in Bilaspur district, only to meet thousands of people walking up in the opposite direction.
Most were trampled while dozens fell to their death after railings broke on the steep mountainside. More than 100 people were injured.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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