At least seven people were crushed to death and more than 35 injured after a fight between devotees and flower sellers at a Hindu temple in India’s eastern Bihar state.
The incident occurred at about 12.30am on Monday when a fight broke out at the Baba Siddhanath Temple in Makhdumpur, in the Jehanabad district.
The devotees had gathered for prayers at the hilltop temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.
Relatives of those killed blamed a lack of crowd management at the temple, where devotees gather every Monday morning during the holy month of Shravan. Those injured were taken to a local government-run hospital.
Some volunteers from the National Cadet Corps, the young wing of the Indian armed forces, used batons on devotees, which led to the crush, local media quoted a victim's relative as saying.
But Vikas Kumar, subdivisional officer of the district, denied the claim. “Force and civil medical teams were deputed. This is an unfortunate incident and we are investigating the matter,” he said.
District magistrate Alankrita Pandey, Jehanabad's senior official, said the situation was "brought under control”.
The administration has announced 400,000 rupees ($4,760) in compensation for the families of those killed.
The incident comes a month after at least 116 people were crushed to death and more than 100 injured at a religious gathering in the Hathras district of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state.
The crush occurred at a narrow exit as devotees tried to leave the event after a sermon by preacher Narayan Sakar Hari, also known as Bhole Baba.
Such incidents are common across India. At least 115 devotees died in 2013 during a crush at a temple in Madhya Pradesh, with more than 220 pilgrims killed in a crush at a hilltop temple in western Rajasthan state.
