At least 27 dead in stampede during religious gathering in northern India | Religion News

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Several other people were injured in the incident in Hathras district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Authorities fear the death toll could rise.

At least 27 people were killed in a mass panic during a religious event in Hathras district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, according to official information and local media reports.

“We have received 27 bodies so far… more bodies are coming,” the northern state’s chief medical officer, Ram Mohan Tiwari, told AFP on Tuesday.

In a village in Hathras, about 140 kilometers southeast of New Delhi, crowds gathered to celebrate the Hindu deity Shiva.

Hathras police said the dead included 23 women, three children and a man. He said more than 150 people were admitted to hospitals following the crush, adding that the death toll could rise.

“Many injured people have also been admitted,” Umesh Kumar Tripathi, the district’s chief medical officer, told reporters. “The main reason is a stampede during a religious event.”

Uttar Pradesh: Horrific images. Mass panic during a religious gathering of the Bhole Baba Satsang in Hathras, over 27 people (most of them women) were declared dead, over 100 believers fainted and were taken away in buses and vans. pic.twitter.com/xKXbF0Jwms

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During major religious festivals in India, fatal accidents in places of worship are common.

In 2016, at least 112 people were killed when a massive explosion occurred following illegal fireworks at a temple celebrating the Hindu New Year.

The explosion tore through concrete buildings and ignited a fire at a temple complex in the state of Kerala where thousands had gathered.

Another 115 believers died in 2013 in a stampede on a bridge near a temple in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India.

Up to 400,000 people had gathered in the area and the mass panic occurred after rumors spread that the bridge was about to collapse.

In 2008, a stampede outside a hilltop temple in the northern city of Jodhpur in Rajasthan state left about 224 pilgrims dead and over 400 others injured.