9 killed in India temple surge during Hindu festival
The incident happened as devotees surged at the Swamy Venkateswara shrine in Andhra Pradesh during the sacred Ekadashi festival
A crowd surge at a popular Hindu temple in southern India left at least nine people dead and dozens injured, local authorities said on Saturday.
The incident occurred at the Swamy Venkateswara Temple in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh state, where hundreds of devotees had gathered to mark one of Hinduism’s sacred days – “Ekadashi”, senior police officer K. V. Maheswra Reddy said.
On this day, the devotees fast and offer prayers to Lord Vishnu, a key Hindu deity.
An initial investigation suggests that an iron grille meant to maintain the queue of worshippers at the temple broke, leading to the uncontrolled crowd surge, Reddy said.
Senior local government official Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar said more casualties were feared. “Initially, we had reports of seven deaths, but two more people have succumbed to their injuries while the condition of two others is critical,” he said.
Of the deceased, eight are women and one is a child, Pundkar said, adding that at least 16 devotees injured in the crowd surge were being treated at a local hospital while 20 others were in a state of shock and put under observation at a different hospital.