About 60 people were feared dead in a stampede at a religious event in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, authorities said.
“I can’t give the exact toll at the moment, but it is approximately 60 … There is a possibility that the toll may go up,” Manish Chikara, a district police spokesperson, told Reuters by phone.
Unverified videos on social media showed bodies piled up on the ground outside a local hospital. Reuters could not immediately verify the videos.
State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered an investigation into the incident.
“Instructions have been given to the concerned officials to conduct relief and rescue operations on war footing and to provide proper treatment to the injured,” he wrote on X.
Crowds had gathered to celebrate the Hindu deity Shiva in the city of Hathras, some 140 kilometres southeast of New Delhi.
Earlier, Umesh Kumar Tripathi, chief medical officer, told reporters the dead included 25 women. “Many injured have also been admitted,” Tripathi said. “The primary reason is a stampede during a religious event.”
Deadly accidents are common at places of worship in India during major religious festivals.
At least 112 people were killed in 2016 after a huge explosion caused by a banned fireworks display at a temple marking the Hindu new year.
The blast ripped through concrete buildings and ignited a fire at a temple complex in Kerala state, where thousands had gathered.
Another 115 devotees died in 2013 after a stampede at a bridge near a temple in Madhya Pradesh. Up to 400,000 people were gathered in the area, and the stampede occurred after a rumour spread that the bridge was about to collapse.
About 224 pilgrims died and more than 400 others were injured in a 2008 stampede at a hilltop temple in the northern city of Jodhpur.