Death toll in northern India stampede rises to 60

Around 60 people were killed and dozens injured in a stampede in northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, local police said.

Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal said about 60 people had been killed and dozens were injured in the tragedy in Mangarh area of Kunda town, about 180 km from Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.

The incident took place near a temple where at least 4,000 people were gathering for a community religious feast. The stampede broke out when the main gate leading to the temple collapsed, local officals said.

Some of the injured were reported to be in critical condition and had been rushed to the nearest city for medical treatment.

In 2008, two major stampedes in India during religious gathering occured. One is at the Chamunda Devi Temple in Jodhpur with death toll of 147 and the other is outside the Naina Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh where 145 were reported dead. In both cases, a small narrow path of the temple was overcrowded with piligrims and there was inadequate medical facility at both places.

Source:Xinhua