Seven killed in stampede at temple in Bihar

Patna, August 12: At least seven kanwariyas were killed and nine others injured in a stampede on the way to the Baba Siddheshwarnath Temple atop Barabar hills in Bihar’s Jehanabad late on Sunday night.

The incident took place at around 12.30 am when kanwariyas were climbing Barabar hills to offer puja at the temple in Makhdumpur area of Jehanabad.

Some local residents have blamed poor crowd management and police lathicharge for the incident. “There had been common routes for people visiting the temple and returning from there. As number of devotees started swelling ahead of onset of fourth Monday of Saawan month, police could not manage crowd and instead opened lathicharge that might have caused the stampede”, said Suman Kumar, relative of an injured kanwariya.Top of Form

 Bottom of FormJehanabad District Magistrate Alankrita Pandey said: ‘We confirm seven deaths. We are looking into cause of the incident. We are getting the injured treated at the Jehanabad hospital”.

-The Indian Express