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At least seven pilgrims have died and nine were injured in a stampede at Baba Siddhanth Temple in the Jehanabad district of India’s Bihar on Monday, reports bdnews24.com citing India Today.
The victims included five women and two men, according to officials. The injured were rushed to the hospitals in Makhdumpur and Jehanabad for treatment.
The situation was under control, Jehanabad District Magistrate Alankrita Pandey said.
"At least seven people died and nine were injured in a stampede at Baba Siddhanth Temple in Makhdumpur of Jehanabad district. We are monitoring everything and now the situation is under control," she told ANI.
The incident occurred at the Vanavar hill of Makhdumpur block. Those injured were rushed to hospitals in Makhdumpur and Jehanabad.
The temple saw a huge rush since it was the fourth Monday of the holy Sawan month, India Today wrote.
"DM and SP visited the spot and are taking stock of the situation...A total of seven people have died...We are meeting and inquiring about the family members [of the people dead and injured]...We are trying to identify the people [who have died], after this we will send the bodies for post-mortem," Divakar Kumar Vishwakarma, SHO Jehanabad said while speaking to ANI.
Meanwhile, Manoj, an eyewitness to the stampede, said there was a brawl before the incident.
"Had the administration worked well, the flower seller would not have picked a fight. There was a brawl. It happened right before us. So many of us were trapped there, someone pulled me out. Had I been stuck there for a minute or two more, I would have died. The incident happened due to a stampede. The Police were nowhere to be seen at the spot, they were deployed along the route...I have suffered injuries too," he said.
The incident occurred weeks after over 120 people died in a religious congregation at Uttar Pradesh's Hathras. It took place at the gathering dedicated to Baba Narayan Hari or 'Bhole Baba.' According to the administration, the organisers had secured the permission of a gathering of 80,000 but a lot more devotees turned up, leading to the stampede.