NEW DELHI // At least 145 Hindu pilgrims, more than half of them women and children, were trampled to death in a stampede during a religious festival at a hilltop temple in northern India yesterday.
At least 48 other pilgrims were injured during the second of a nine-day Hindu religious festival at the Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh state.
The death toll was expected to rise as rescue teams rushed to the accident site and launched relief and rescue efforts. They will be doing so in rainy, monsoon conditions on a mountainside with narrow paths. The number of injured is likely to be higher as well because many were admitted to private clinics.
Police told television news channels shortly after the incident, which took place 160km from the provincial capital of Shimla, that the dead included 45 women and 40 children. About 10,000 people were trying to enter the hilltop temple when the stampede began. Normally 50,000 make the pilgrimage daily during the nine days, officials said.
District officials said the stampede might have erupted because of rumoured landslides. Monsoon rains had caused some loose stones in a retaining wall to fall along the four-kilometre trail.
As the stones fell, the worshippers, in winding queues waiting to make offerings inside the temple's inner sanctum, were reported to have panicked and fled down the slope resulting in chaos.
A network of fences or railings along the trail leading to the mountain temple then broke and dozens fell to their deaths. Others were crushed under pilgrims making their way back down the trail or jumped over the railing to escape the rushing crowd. Mothers could not keep a grip on their children, who were then lost under the feet of the scared mob.
Television channels showed blurred pictures from the shrine of the bodies of several small children, apparently lying at the bottom of the path. Afterwards slippers, torn clothes and bags with flowers lay on the narrow winding path.
"I rushed to the spot in search of my three children who had gone to pay obeisance at the hilltop shrine," Jawahar Khurana told the Press Trust of India news agency as he searched the bodies. "I fail to understand why God was so cruel to us."
"There were too many rumours, we tried our best to keep things under control but it went out of hand," one officer said.
The majority of victims died of suffocation, police said. "A lot of people were confined in a small area," the district chief, C P Verma, told the NDTV news channel.
The pilgrims had come to the temple to celebrate Shravan Navratras, a festival that honours the Hindu goddess Shakrti, or divine mother.
Many of the deceased were from neighbouring Punjab state, from where additional police and rescue teams are being rushed to the temple for relief, officials said.
Police ferried the dead and wounded down the mountain using cable cars.
Helicopters were flown in to help with rescue efforts at the remote temple in the foothills of the Himalayas. At the Bilaspur hospital, rescue workers unloaded bodies wrapped in brown blankets from a lorry and laid them in rows so they could be identified by relatives.
"At the moment our efforts are focused on rescue. Once that is compete we will investigate the cause," said Anurag Garg, another senior police officer.
Stampedes and drownings are common occurrences in and near temples across India during religious festivals, which are attended by tens of thousands of people.
Larger numbers of people, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands, attend these gatherings in small shrines that lack the facilities to accommodate or control such big gatherings.
Six people died in a stampede at a well-attended Hindu festival in eastern Orissa state in July, when more than a million worshippers had gathered in the coastal town of Puri for annual celebrations.
In March nine devotees were killed at another religious gathering, this one in central India, when a railing broke at the temple premises causing a massive stampede.
* With additional reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters
rbedi@thenational.ae
*AFP
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group F
Manchester City v Hoffenheim, midnight (Wednesday, UAE)
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Sunday
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Remaining fixtures
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Porsche Macan T: The Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
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Essentials
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines all fly direct from the UAE to Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang from about Dh2,300 return, including taxes.
Where to stay
In Kuala Lumpur, Element is a recently opened, futuristic hotel high up in a Norman Foster-designed skyscraper. Rooms cost from Dh400 per night, including taxes. Hotel Stripes, also in KL, is a great value design hotel, with an infinity rooftop pool. Rooms cost from Dh310, including taxes.
In Penang, Ren i Tang is a boutique b&b in what was once an ancient Chinese Medicine Hall in the centre of Little India. Rooms cost from Dh220, including taxes.
23 Love Lane in Penang is a luxury boutique heritage hotel in a converted mansion, with private tropical gardens. Rooms cost from Dh400, including taxes.
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Empty Words
By Mario Levrero
(Coffee House Press)
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
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'The Batman'
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Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
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The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
The biog
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The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
Trolls World Tour
Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake
Rating: 4 stars
Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
