Stampede near Naina Devi temple claims 146 lives

A stampede on a slender trail leading to the famous hilltop Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday killed 146 people, mainly women and children, and injured about 230.

Naina Devi, a key shrine of the temple tourist circuit of the hill State, is about 165 km from the State capital and is very popular among the people from neighbouring Punjab and the lower plains of Himachal.

According to officials, rumours of a landslip uphill triggered the stampede as terrified people started running down. More than 5000 devotees were on their way to the temple, situated at a height of about 4000 metres, at the time of the incident. Since this was an auspicious time of the year, the rush was more, said a temple official.

The communication network in the area was affected due to bad weather and rescue operations were hampered due to fog around the site.

Most of the injured have been referred to the Ropar hospital in Punjab and PGI Chandigarh.

Television footage showed slippers, torn clothes and bags with flowers and offerings lying along the narrow path winding up the hill.

People thronged hospitals looking for relatives.

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

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal rushed to the spot and supervised rescue operations. He announced an immediate relief of Rs. 1 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 to those seriously injured.

A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident. A similar stampede occurred here in 1983, claiming 36 lives.

PTI reports:

As men, women and children stood in a serpentine queue, suddenly all hell broke loose. In 15 minutes, between 9.30 a.m. and 9.45 a.m. rumour of a landslip triggered a huge stampede.

Groups of devotees returning from the temple ran down and crashed into pilgrims trekking up the four km road to reach the temple.

Children and women clutching the hands of their near and dear ones got separated in the rush to escape the feared landslide, realising little that they were hurtling to another form of death.

As devotees tried to outpace one another to find an escape route, they tried to jump over the railings along the road leading to the temple.

Coming under massive human pressure, the railings gave way and people fell down along the slope.

Several women and children, who could not jump the railings and stuck to the regular path, were trampled upon, witnesses said.

source :

http://www.hindu.com/