16 Die in Stampede in Northern India
At least 16 people were crushed to death and scores of others injured in a stampede at a religious ceremony close to the river Ganges in northern India on Tuesday, officials said.
"So far 14 women and two men have died, and 46 others are seriously injured," D. Santhel Pandiyan, district magistrate in the nearby town of Haridwar, told Agence France Presse by telephone from the accident site.
"More worshippers turned up than the place could accommodate and so the stampede occurred."
Hemant Sahu, media contact for the event organizers, said that tens of thousands of Hindu devotees crowded towards a fire at the ashram to make offerings.
"When the big ritual was going on, too many people rushed forward to make their offerings to the holy fire and the crowd got out of control," he said.
"A couple of people fell down and that is what happened. We think the death toll may still go up."
As emergency teams and officials rushed to the scene, local reports varied on how the accident had occurred.
The Press Trust of India news agency reported the stampede broke out when worshippers tried to enter the Shantikunj ashram to take part in a ritual to celebrate 100 years since the birth of its revered founder Shreeram Sharma.
Large numbers of people have gathered at the sprawling ashram for the five-day festival.
Haridwar, 107 miles (173 kilometers) north of New Delhi where the Ganges emerges from the Himalayan mountains, is one of Hinduism's most sacred cities and among India's biggest pilgrim destinations.
Stampedes are a regular risk in India where policing and crowd control are often inadequate at temples and on pilgrimage routes, where throngs of fervent devotees congregate on auspicious occasions.
Source: Agence France Presse
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