At least seven people have been killed and more than a dozen injured in a stampede at a Hindu temple in India's eastern state of Bihar. The crush happened at the Ashok Dham temple in Lakhisarai district early on Monday as thousands of worshippers gathered to make offerings to the Hindu deity Shiva during the holy month of Shravan. District magistrate Shailendra Kumar told that panic broke out after rumours spread that an electricity pole had fallen on devotees inside the temple grounds.
Other reports suggested fears of electrocution contributed to the panic, while Kumar said the arrival of two trains within a short period had caused the number of worshippers at the temple to surge. A section of barricading subsequently collapsed as people attempted to escape. "The situation is under control now," Kumar told AFP, putting the number of injured at 19.
Local reports said many of those caught in the crush were women, with at least four of those killed identified as women aged between 44 and 55. Bihar's Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary described the deaths as "heart-wrenching" and announced compensation of 400,000 rupees ($4,180) for the family of each person killed. State minister Vijay Kumar Sinha said the circumstances surrounding the disaster would be investigated.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his condolences to the victims' families and said local authorities were assisting those affected. Deadly crowd crushes have repeatedly occurred at large religious gatherings in India, where huge numbers of worshippers can place severe pressure on crowd-control measures. More than 120 people were killed at a religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh in 2024, one of India's deadliest crowd disasters in recent years.
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