India

Hundreds die in temple stampede, bomb blasts kill eight

Article published on the 2008-09-30 Latest update 2008-10-01 14:51 TU

Bodies of people who died in the temple stampede
(Photo: Reuters)

Hundreds of peopel were killed and many others injured in a stampede at a Hindu temple in the western Indian city of Jodhpur. Correspondent Vikram Roy spoke to the head of the Dagistan state police who said more than 450 people died in a stampede that came after someone slipped and fell inside the Chamunda temple in Jodhpur’s Mehrangarh Fort.

“There was a domino effect of people toppling over each other. And then of course the fear and the screams caused others to run and trample their fellow worshipers to death.”

More than 25,000 people had gathered at the start of a nine-day Navaratra festival when the incident occurred.

This is the fourth stampede to take place in India this year. Last month 140 people were killed in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.

Roy says the deaths are a result of inadequate safety precautions taken by the authorities.

“It is a really sad reflection of Indian social thinking, that most of the people who go to this temple, as pilgrims, come from the very bottom of the social heap, so to speak,” he explained. “Although every state promises to make full arrangement, they never do.”

Despite the tragedy, pilgrims are already returning to the temple, to celebrate the evening rituals.

Bomb blasts in the west

Also on Tuesday, Police say two explosions killed eight people and injured almost 100 in two areas of western India in the evening of Monday to Tuesday.

Police were investigating an explosion that occurred near a mosque in the town of Malegaon, 280 kilometres from Mumbai killed seven and injured 82.

It is unclear what caused the explosion. Officials say that gas cylinders may have exploded accidentally.

In a separate blast in Gujarat state, a 15-year-old Muslim boy was killed and nine others injured in a crowded market in a Muslim part of Modasa town. 

Gujarat's Home Minister Amit Shah said a device was planted on a motorcycle. "We are reviewing security arrangements," he said.

Indian cities have suffered a series of attacks by an Islamic group called the Indian Mujahideen, seemingly directed at middle-class Hindus.