At least six killed in stampede at Mansa Devi temple in Haridwar

Haridwar: At least six devotees were killed and over two dozen injured, some seriously, in a stampede at the famous Mansa Devi Temple at Haridwar in Uttarakhand on Sunday morning.

Haridwar police chief Premendra Singh Dobal said that 35 injured devotees were admitted to the hospital where six succumbed to their injuries. The critically injured devotees were being shifted to a higher healthcare centre.

The dead also included children, sources said.

According to the sources, the stampede occurred around 9 am in the morning following a rumor of an electric malfunction in the wires near the railings along the route. There was a mad rush to get away from the wires which led to the trampling of many of them.

Rescue operations were launched almost immediately and ambulances rushed the injured to the nearby hospitals. Senior officials were present on the site to supervise the rescue operations, sources said.

Eyewitness accounts said that there was a huge crowd of devotees on account of the ongoing Kanwar yatra on the route to the temple, which is situated atop a hill. Sources said that the officials had opened routes which were earlier closed because of the rush.

The route was narrow and the stairs had also become slippery owing to rains, eye witnesses said.

A devotee, who had come from Faridabad in Haryana, said that the rumor triggered panic among the devotees and they began to run. ‘’I fell down in the melee…I managed to somehow get up and ran to safety,’’ he said.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief over the tragedy and said that he was monitoring the rescue operations. He said that the officials had been directed to provide all possible medical assistance to the injured.

The temple dedicated to Mansa Devi, revered as the goddess of snakes, is considered to be one of the most ancient and renowned Sidhpeeth.