India: 27 people died in a stampede to bathe in a sacred river
| Believers come to bathe in the sacred river (Source: Guardian) |
According to AFP, at least 22 people were killed and dozens injured after a horrific stampede occurred on the banks of a sacred river in southern India, at the beginning of the country's religious festival season.
The stampede occurred at 8:00 a.m. (local time) on July 14 in Rajahmundry, on the border between the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, just two hours after the start of the Maha Pushkaralu festival, which attracts tens of thousands of devotees to bathe in the sacred Godavari River.
"As of now, 27 people have died and 29 others have been injured, including at least two in critical condition," said a spokesman for the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh state police said the cause was people jostling on the narrow road leading to the river as everyone wanted to be the first to immerse themselves in the sacred water.
Shortly afterwards, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the relatives of those killed.
The Maha Pushkaralu festival is just the beginning of the larger Kumbh Mela festival, which attracts millions of Hindu pilgrims to Nashik in the western state of Maharashtra.
Over the next two months, devotees will flock to Nashik, the site of a stampede at the Kumbh festival that killed 39 people 12 years ago.
Stampedes at religious festivals are quite common in India. In October 2013, a stampede in Madhya Pradesh state killed 110 people, mostly children and women.
According to VNA
