25 injured in stampede at Muzaffarpur temple

At least 25 people sustained injuries, some grievous, in a stampede at Baba Garibnath temple in Muzaffarpur on Monday morning.

The injured, mostly ‘kanwariyas’, who were on their way to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva on the occasion of ‘Shravan’.

The incident took place when there was a huge turnout of devotees, estimated to be around 1 lakh, during the early hours of Monday - considered most auspicious to pay obeisance.

There was ruckus outside the temple premises in which some devotees fell over each other. Soon, people ran helter-skelter leading to more devotees sustaining injuries.

“The injured have been shifted to nearby hospitals. The situation is now under control,” said a district official who was supervising the relief and rescue operation.

This is the stampede during the holy month of Shravan (as per Hindu calendar) in Muzaffarpur. Earlier, 20 people had died in a stampede during Chhath festival in Patna in 2012.