Network TodayNetwork Today
    What's Hot

    Review: The Many Thrilling Flavors of a Full-Scale ‘Sweeney Todd’

    March 27, 2023

    Historic Wright Brothers airplane factory damaged in fire

    March 27, 2023

    Taiwan president decries China’s ‘dollar diplomacy’ as Honduras opens ties with Beijing

    March 27, 2023
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • Contact
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Monday, March 27
    Network TodayNetwork Today
    • Home
    • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Energy
    • Technology
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Sports
    Network TodayNetwork Today
    Home » At Least 12 Die in Stampede at a Hindu Shrine in Kashmir

    At Least 12 Die in Stampede at a Hindu Shrine in Kashmir

    January 1, 20223 Mins Read News
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr WhatsApp Email Reddit
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    SRINAGAR, Kashmir — At least 12 people were killed and more than a dozen were injured in a stampede early Saturday near the city of Jammu in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, as thousands of devotees were paying obeisance at a famous Hindu shrine to mark the beginning of the new year.

    Hundreds of people were packed inside a corridor of the shrine, Mata Vaishno Devi, in the hilly town of Katra, when at about 2:30 a.m. a clash broke out outside, leading to the stampede, police officials said.

    Dilbag Singh, the top police officer of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which contains Katra, said that officers had been quick to respond to emergency calls but that the “damage was already done.”

    One of the devotees at the shrine, Bunty Singh, said he, like thousands of others, had arrived to offer prayers just after midnight, an auspicious time for many Hindus to start the first day of a year. But Mr. Singh, 45, a businessman from neighboring Punjab State, said that the roads leading to the shrine were packed and that there was hardly any space to walk.

    “A sudden commotion broke out,” he said. “Before the stampede, there was a noise for some time, as if people were fighting with each other.”

    Deadly stampedes during religious pilgrimages and festivals are common in India, where public safety measures are often flouted by temple authorities. The stampedes are often brought on by overcrowding in small areas with few exit-control measures in place. In recent years, officials across the country have been trying to improve public safety at temples and shrines, which are visited by hundreds of thousands of people each day. According to local officials, the temple authorities in Katra said they had taken the required safety measures.

    In October 2013, at least 115 people died when thousands of religious pilgrims panicked that a narrow bridge they were crossing might be collapsing. About half a million worshipers had flocked that month to a temple in the northern Madhya Pradesh State for a festival. In April 2016, a series of explosions caused by a fireworks display during a religious festival at a temple in the southern Kerala State left 106 dead and hundreds injured.

    Manoj Sinha, India’s top appointed official in the region, said he had directed officials to investigate the stampede and to look into how such episodes could be avoided in the future.

    Videos from Mata Vaishno Devi — which is tucked in a mountain about 5,200 feet above sea level and is visited each year by millions of Hindu pilgrims — showed thousands of people jostling for space near the entrance to the shrine minutes before the stampede. Later videos show ambulances rushing toward the temple and thousands of people trying to leave.

    Amit Chowdhary, a businessman from Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab, said he was among about two dozen people who fell as they saw a huge crowd trying to leave through one of the shrine’s gates.

    “When I fell, I thought the first day of this year was going to be the last day of my life,” Mr. Chowdhary said. “People were moving over the dead bodies. Somehow I managed to pull myself up and ran for my life.”

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

    Related Posts

    Historic Wright Brothers airplane factory damaged in fire

    March 27, 2023

    Taiwan president decries China’s ‘dollar diplomacy’ as Honduras opens ties with Beijing

    March 27, 2023

    Armed Georgia homeowner catches intruder in the act, shoots him dead as neighbors cook breakfast

    March 27, 2023

    North Korean forced into marriages, sex slavery in China’s ‘Red Zone,’ human rights group says

    March 27, 2023

    Man calling himself ‘Baby Danielle’ breaks into day care, leaves staff bizarre notes about diapers: police

    March 26, 2023

    Netanyahu tells Piers Morgan democracy is safe in Israel despite his moves to wrest control of ‘too powerful’

    March 26, 2023
    Trending

    Review: The Many Thrilling Flavors of a Full-Scale ‘Sweeney Todd’

    March 27, 2023

    Historic Wright Brothers airplane factory damaged in fire

    March 27, 2023

    Taiwan president decries China’s ‘dollar diplomacy’ as Honduras opens ties with Beijing

    March 27, 2023

    Climate czar John Kerry says Biden will impose more mandates, go farther than Inflation Reduction Act

    March 27, 2023
    Latest News

    Pentagon Orders 7,000 More Troops to Europe

    February 25, 2022

    Georgia antisemitism bill lives again after new vote

    March 23, 2023

    Liz Cheney calls Trump ‘domestic threat,’ says Republicans can’t both support him and Constitution

    June 30, 2022

    Cory Booker Wants You to Give Up the White Stuff (Sugar, That Is)

    July 5, 2022

    Bob Baffert Could Be Barred From New York Tracks for Two Years

    April 27, 2022

    Former Arizona mayor faces sentencing in ballot harvesting case, lawyer asks for leniency

    October 7, 2022

    Network Today is one of the biggest English news portal, we provide the latest news from all around the world.

    We're social. Connect with us:

    Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest YouTube
    Recent

    Review: The Many Thrilling Flavors of a Full-Scale ‘Sweeney Todd’

    March 27, 2023

    Historic Wright Brothers airplane factory damaged in fire

    March 27, 2023

    Taiwan president decries China’s ‘dollar diplomacy’ as Honduras opens ties with Beijing

    March 27, 2023
    Featured

    ‘Late Show’ Staff Arrested at U.S. Capitol Complex Won’t Be Prosecuted

    July 19, 2022

    3 Dogs Die After Eating Poisoned Meatballs at a Race in France

    March 16, 2023

    Abortion trumps inflation as most important issue to Michigan voters in gubernatorial race: new poll

    August 18, 2022
    Copyright ©️ All rights reserved | Network Today
    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • Contact

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.