11 die, 50 hurt in stampede at Jharkhand temple

Over 100,000 people were in a queue, many waiting since Sunday night to get into the famous Baidyanath <g data-gr-id="34">Temple,</g> when the stampede took place. Deoghar is 300 km from here.

During ‘Shravan’ month of the Hindu calendar, more than 30 lakh people offer prayers at the Baidyanath temple. On Mondays, the number goes up substantially and around two lakh people offer prayers.

Modi condoled the deaths in <g data-gr-id="33">stampede</g>. “Pained at <g data-gr-id="32">loss</g> of lives due to the stampede in Jharkhand. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased in this hour of grief. I pray that the injured recover quickly,” Modi said on Twitter. “I spoke to Chief Minister Raghubar Das on the incident.”

The stampede in Jharkhand took place less than a month after a stampede in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. At least 27 pilgrims were killed and over 60 injured on July 14 in the stampede at the start of the Godavari ‘Maha <g data-gr-id="30">Pushkaralu</g>’ — the Kumbh Mela of the south.

Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar said all the injured have been admitted to Sadar hospital in Deoghar for treatment and added the stampede was a result of a “large crowd”.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said: “My heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the stampede at Deoghar in Jharkhand. I pray for speedy recovery of the injured.”

He said Chief Minister Das apprised him of the situation in Deoghar and “asked for extra RAF deployment”.

The minister said one extra Rapid Action Force (RAF) battalion will be sent to Deoghar for “better crowd and security management”.

The Jharkhand government has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the family of victims and Rs 50,000 to injured, an official said. Raghubar Das has ordered a <g data-gr-id="35">high level</g> probe into the incident.