Shayne Heffernan
Last Update: 11:10 amET

Stampede at India temple kills 63 women, children

Map of India locating Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh. At least 63 people have died n a stampede at a temple in northern India where a crowd had gathered for a religious festival, a local police official told AFP. (AFP/Graphics)

NEW DELHI (AFP) – A total of 63 people have died in a stampede at a temple in northern India, a local police official told AFP.

The dead include 37 children and 26 women.

About 8,000 people had gathered at the Hindu temple to collect free clothes and food being handed out by a local holy man.

The stampede began when a large metal gate fell onto some of the devotees, officials said.

Emergency vehicles and rescue teams rushed to the scene.

The Ram Janki temple is in Pratapgarh, 650 kilometres (400 miles) southeast of New Delhi and 25 kilometres north of Allahabad. — AFP

Posted byadmin on Mar 4th, 2010 and filed under India, Regional News.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site

You must be logged in to post a comment Login