Stampede kills 145 Hindu worshippers

At least 123 people, mostly women and children, were crushed to death under the feet of thousands of pilgrims in a stampede at a temple in northern India yesterday, police said.

Chanting and singing hymns, Hindu worshippers were snaking up a 4 km trail, leading to a hill-top temple in Himachal Pradesh state, when part of iron railings on one side of the road broke, causing the stampede.

Thinking there was a landslide, the pilgrims panicked and started fleeing down the hillside, trampling falling women and children, police and witnesses said.

"As of now we have 123 people dead, including more than 40 children," Daljit Singh Manhas, a senior police officer said earlier in the evening.

"The injured have been taken to two places and the toll could be more as we are awaiting news from other hospitals," Manhas said. He said at least 45 women were among the dead.

Thousands of worshippers had gathered at the temple in Bilaspur to pray to a Hindu goddess during an annual festival.

Authorities said at least 48 people were injured, but this figure could also rise as dozens of people were admitted to private clinics as well.

Witnesses said people jumped over broken railings and bodies to save themselves. Children lost their grip on their mothers' hands and were crushed under the feet of scared pilgrims.

"Many children and women were shouting for help and I saw people tumbling down the hillside," said 48-year-old pilgrim Dev Swarup.

"There were rumors of boulders coming down on us and we all ran like the others," said Swarup, his voice choked with emotion.

Slippers, parts of torn clothes and bags with flowers and offerings lay along the narrow path winding up the hill, television pictures showed.

People crowded into the hospitals looking for injured relatives.

A television channel showed a young female pilgrim pleading for water in a corner as rescuers brought more injured people on stretchers for treatment.

More than 10,000 people were trying to get into the temple and police had to struggle desperately to keep the situation under control.

Most of the worshippers were from the neighboring state of Punjab.

Stampedes at temples are not uncommon in India where thousands of people gather to pray during festivals. In 2005, about 265 pilgrims were killed in a stampede near a temple in the western state of Maharashtra.

Questions:

1. How many women did police report dead in the stampede?

2. Where was the temple that the pilgrims were headed for located?

3. How many people were trying to get to the temple?

Answers:

1. 45.

2. Bilaspur.

3. 10,000.