Temple stampede: Govt stumbles for answers

Video

Click to play video

New Delhi: At least 130 people were crushed to death and more than 450 injured in a stampede caused by a rush of devotees at the Chamunda Devi temple in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Thousands of pilgrims had gathered along the two-km-long slope to the temple to mark the beginning of the Navratra festival.

Then, as eyewitnesses say, there was a scramble in the men's queue, some devotees slipped and soon, it turned out into a massive stampede within minutes.

State Home Minister G C Kataria was quoted as saying by news agencies that while 150 people had been declared dead, the figure could go up with many of the critically injured battling for their lives in hospitals.

The disaster took place around 0600 hrs (IST), less than three hours after the historic Chamunda Mata temple opened for prayers on the occasion of Navaratri festival.

No medical help was available and the pilgrims had to reportedly carry the injured themselves. Some even attempted to resuscitate the unconscious victims.

While there have been a number of deadly stampedes in India, especially in crowded shrines or at religious congregations like the Kumbh Mela at Hardwar, the latest one is among the worst.

On Aug 3, 145 people had died in a stampede at the Naina Devi shrine in Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayan foothills.

According to one account, 8,000 to 10,000 men, women and children were gathered in the complex at the time of the accident, all using a narrow pathway leading to the temple.

A judicial inquiry has been ordered into the incident. Here are few unanswered questions

• Why was Rajasthan government not prepared to deal with rush? It was the first day of the Navaratri festival when the maximum rush is expected.

• Why were there no medical facilities for pilgrims?
• Why was there no power back-up?

According to K S Bains, the chief of Rajasthan state police, said that in the early hours of the morning there was a power failure for a brief period which could have caused some of the devotes to slip.

“And because of the slippage, there was a cascading effect”, he said.

Survivors recalled how an unexpected panic run killed so many - in just 30 minutes.

"Everything moved so fast that we did not even understand what happened," twenty-four-year-old Kamal, 24, who was in the queue of devotees on the hill. "Suddenly we saw people run and fall over each other. By God's grace, we saved ourselves."

Added Rammurti, a 30-year-old man: "I was in the middle of a very long queue. People had started to gather since early morning. All of a sudden they started to run and fall on one another. I escaped but my feet got crushed."

Not everyone was that lucky.

"I am trying to locate my only son," said Kamla, a woman, with tears in her eyes.

"I have been to two hospitals but I cannot find him. Please help me," she pleaded.

The stampede occurred about 150 feet from the shrine when the devotees were rushing downhill.

With no motorable road reaching up to the temple, it was left to the devotees to carry the dead and wounded for about half a kilometre from where they were taken by ambulances and private vehicles to the hospitals.

Previous incidents

On August 3, over 162 people were killed in a stampede at the Naina Devi temple, in Himachal Pradesh.

On March 27, 2008, nine people were killed and many more were injured in a stampede at a religious fair, attended by around 1 lakh people in Madhya Pradesh.

On 25 January 2005, around 300 pilgrims died in a stampede during a pilgrimage to Mandhar Devi temple in Maharashtra.

(With agency inputs)