Thousands of pilgrims gathered at the Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh State, India, on Sunday were crossing a bridge when a panic took hold and people stampeded across a bridge, resulting in the death of at least 89 people.
At least 100 were also injured, reports NDTV.
People who wanted to get ahead in the queue at a bridge near the temple allegedly started a rumor that the bridge was about to collapse to get people off it, witnesses told NDTV. Some 25,000 people on the bridge began fearfully rushing off the bridge, crushing some people in the process, while others jumped off to avoid the stampede and drowned.
A witness, Atul Chaudhary, told the BBC a couple thousand people were on the bridge. He heard screaming; he saw people “flattened to the ground in the midst of the melee;” he saw young people jump into the swollen Sindh river.
“I and my friends were close to the exit point and along with several others ran for safety. Scores of others were not so lucky,” he said.
More to come.
