At least 63 dead in stampede in UP temple

NEW DELHI: At least 50 people were killed and 30 injured on Thursday in a stampede at Ram Janki temple in Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Brij Lal said about 48-50 people have been killed in the tragedy in Mangarh area of Kunda town, about 180 km from here.

The stampede occurred after the main gate of the temple collapsed. More than 30 people are reported to be trapped in the debris.

Most of the trapped people are women and children. There was a huge crowd gathered at the temple to attend a 'bhandara' (luncheon) of Swami Kripaluji Maharaj.

Police and administrative officials have reached the stampede site and are engaged in rescue and relief work.
63 dead, dozens injured in temple stampede
Updated at: 1440 PST, Thursday, March 04, 2010
LUCKNOW: A senior local government official said that the death toll in a stampede at a temple in north India has risen to 63.

Ashok Kumar says dozens of people were also injured Thursday when thousands of people crowded into the compound of a temple in Kunda, a small town 112 miles (180 kilometers) southeast of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state. The temple is in the town of Pratapgarh, 650 kilometres (400 miles) south-east of New Delhi and 25 kilometres north of the city of Allahabad.

Local police official Brij Lal says free clothes and utensils were being distributed at a religious function at the Ram Janki temple, which likely caused the stampede.