As many as seven people -- all women -- died and several others were injured following a stampede-like incident at the Ashokdham Temple in Bihar's Lakhisarai district, said officials on Monday.
The incident happened this morning when an electric wire reportedly fell which triggered panic among the people present at the temple, who had flocked the Ashokdham Temple on the occasion of the holy month of Shravan.
Briefing the reporters, Lakhisarai District Magistrate (DM) Shailendra Kumar said the crowd swelled in an "unprecedented manner" when two trains arrived between 6.30 and 6.45 am. He said though arrangements were made by officials, the barricading broke on one side due to the crowd after which several people fell. However, the officials responded immediately to it.
"The queue of devotees had reached till Ashokdham Halt. Two trains had stopped at the Halt. Suddenly, an electric pole fell there. The pole was located on the right side of the men's queue. When the pole collapsed, a rumour spread that a live wire had fallen on people, but it was a cable wire," he said.
"This led to pressure on the women's queue on the left side. So, women fell on top of each other... Police administration had been marching there since 3 am. This happened all of a sudden within a span of 2 minutes. We are at Sadar Hospital right now. All the deceased are women. We are finding out the exact number of deceased," he added.
Senior officials arrived at the spot immediately to take a stock of the situation and the injured were taken to the hospital. Officials have said a rescue operation is underway and more details into what led to the incident will be revealed following an investigation.
"Seven casualties have been reported. It is being said that an electric pole fell there and people were electrocuted, which led to a stampede-like situation. We can tell you the exact reason only after verifying everything," Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Shivam Kumar told news agency ANI.
Videos and photos from the site of the incident have gone viral that showed people rushing to the Ashokdham Temple on the last Monday of Shravan. Many were even seen helping the injured, while authorities tried to bring the situation under control.
President, PM, CM express grief
President Droupadi Murmu called the incident 'heart breaking' and expressed her condolences to the kin of the deceased. She also said she is praying for the swift recovery of those who have been injured.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he is pained by the incident. "My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. May the injured recover at the earliest. The local administration is assisting those affected," the PMO quoted him as saying.
Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary has called the incident "extremely tragic and heart-wrenching", paying condolences to the families of the deceased. In a post in Hindi on X, he also said the administration has been instructed to provide immediate assistance to the injured.
With inputs from Ranjit Kumar Samrat
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