NEW DELHI – At least 64 people were killed Sunday in a stampede by masses of Hindu worshippers crossing a bridge to a temple in central India, police said.
The chaos broke out as rumours spread that the bridge was collapsing over the Sindh River, D.K. Arya, deputy inspector general of police in the Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh state, told the Press Trust of India.
Some women and children were among the 64 people who were killed, he said. More than 100 people were being treated in a hospital for injuries including broken bones.
Police wielding sticks had charged the crowd in an effort to contain the panic, Arya said. People retaliated by hurling stones at officers, and one officer was badly injured.
It was not immediately clear how many people were on the bridge when the stampede started. Local media said some 500,000 people had gone to the remote Ratangarh village temple in the Madhya Pradesh district of Datia to honour the Hindu mother goddess Durga on the last day of the popular 10-day Navaratra festival.
The state has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident.
Sonia Gandhi, the leader of India’s ruling Congress Party, expressed “shock and deep anguish over the tragic incident,” according to a party statement.
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