Stampede in India Kills at Least 147

[batmannow]

Stampede in India Kills at Least 147 30stampede-600.jpg
NYTIMES.COM

By HARI KUMAR
Published: September 30, 2008
NEW DELHI — A religious festival in northern India turned into a horrific deadly crush on Tuesday as thousands of Hindu pilgrims stampeded at a temple shrine, piling into one another on a treacherous walkway slick with spilled coconut milk. Officials said at least 147 people, mostly men, suffocated.

Television showed dead pilgrims strewn on the narrow walkway near the Chamunda Devi temple, at the southern edge of the 15th-century Mehrangarh fort in Jodhpur, in the western state of Rajasthan. It was the second deadly religious tragedy in the past few months in India, where pilgrim stampedes are not uncommon. The victims were suffocated as they rushed down a narrow path from the temple 150 yards above, officials said.

Tuesday was the first day of a nine-day festival called Navratra that celebrates nine incarnations of the Hindu mother goddess Durga. Between 2,000 and 3,000 pilgrims were present when the stampede began about 6 a.m.

While the exact cause of the stampede was unclear, officials said the disaster was worsened by devotees who had brought cracked coconuts as religious offerings, which slickened the temple floors and surroundings with coconut milk. Once the stampede started, many victims slipped and fell as they scrambled to escape. “It seems the narrow path became very slippery,” said Kiran Soni Gupta, chief civil servant in the district. “Most of the dead are men and without any visible physical injuries. It seems they died of suffocation.”

She said 55 people were injured, with two of them in serious condition. Some unconfirmed Indian news accounts reported that the death toll exceeded 168.

“The injured do not have any major physical injuries, not even a simple fracture,” said Dr. D. R. Mathur of Mahatma Gandhi hospital in Jodhpur. “None of the dead bodies have any injury marks. They all died of suffocation.”

“Everybody was in hurry and heated arguments took place before the stampede,” a witness said on television.

In August, 148 people died in Himachal Pradesh in similar circumstances. In 2005, a fire and stampede at the Mandhar Devi hilltop temple in western India left more than 250 dead.

“A separate queue was arranged for women and children, and police was deployed at 2:00 a.m., so all the necessary arrangements were made,” said Gulab Chand Kataria, the home minister of Rajasthan.

[Flintlock]

“Most of the dead are men and without any visible physical injuries. It seems they died of suffocation.”

Thread Title

[Humanoid]

Originally Posted by batmannow

SUPER Stampede in SUPER India Kills at Least 147 Attachment 916
NYTIMES.COM

By HARI KUMAR
Published: September 30, 2008
NEW DELHI — A religious festival in northern India turned into a horrific deadly crush on Tuesday as thousands of Hindu pilgrims stampeded at a temple shrine, piling into one another on a treacherous walkway slick with spilled coconut milk. Officials said at least 147 people, mostly men, suffocated.

Television showed dead pilgrims strewn on the narrow walkway near the Chamunda Devi temple, at the southern edge of the 15th-century Mehrangarh fort in Jodhpur, in the western state of Rajasthan. It was the second deadly religious tragedy in the past few months in India, where pilgrim stampedes are not uncommon. The victims were suffocated as they rushed down a narrow path from the temple 150 yards above, officials said.

Tuesday was the first day of a nine-day festival called Navratra that celebrates nine incarnations of the Hindu mother goddess Durga. Between 2,000 and 3,000 pilgrims were present when the stampede began about 6 a.m.

While the exact cause of the stampede was unclear, officials said the disaster was worsened by devotees who had brought cracked coconuts as religious offerings, which slickened the temple floors and surroundings with coconut milk. Once the stampede started, many victims slipped and fell as they scrambled to escape. “It seems the narrow path became very slippery,” said Kiran Soni Gupta, chief civil servant in the district. “Most of the dead are men and without any visible physical injuries. It seems they died of suffocation.”

She said 55 people were injured, with two of them in serious condition. Some unconfirmed Indian news accounts reported that the death toll exceeded 168.

“The injured do not have any major physical injuries, not even a simple fracture,” said Dr. D. R. Mathur of Mahatma Gandhi hospital in Jodhpur. “None of the dead bodies have any injury marks. They all died of suffocation.”

“Everybody was in hurry and heated arguments took place before the stampede,” a witness said on television.

In August, 148 people died in Himachal Pradesh in similar circumstances. In 2005, a fire and stampede at the Mandhar Devi hilltop temple in western India left more than 250 dead.

“A separate queue was arranged for women and children, and police was deployed at 2:00 a.m., so all the necessary arrangements were made,” said Gulab Chand Kataria, the home minister of Rajasthan.

looks like you are very happy.... ..

waiting to have more people to pound upon this opportunity to thrash India....

End of the day it is human tragedy...
Thousands die in Mecca also .. .
Thousands die every year in Chinese Coal mines....

These are all tragedies.. ... how does it feel like if anyone of your close ones dies in a bomb blast ..and some one take a sarcastic dig at it..?

[Cheetah786]

Batman not cool not cool at all man why make fun of some ones religion or take joy in Death.

[batmannow]

Originally Posted by Humanoid

looks like you are very happy.... ..

waiting to have more people to pound upon this opportunity to thrash India....

End of the day it is human tragedy...
Thousands die in Mecca also .. .
Thousands die every year in Chinese Coal mines....

These are all tragedies.. ... how does it feel like if anyone of your close ones dies in a bomb blast ..and some one take a sarcastic dig at it..?

i had, posted that, to ask our indian commrads , why its keeps happing , again & again?
by the way , i am not happy at all, i am worried about it.
I am not targeting any1, but i want to discuss, so we can know the real causes, and can find some solution about it, plz dont think me wrong.

[batmannow]

Originally Posted by Cheetah786

Batman not cool not cool at all man why make fun of some ones religion or take joy in Death.

Dear Cheetah786, sahib,
I am , not making any fun, of any thing, of any body.
But if !you ask question, to any of our indian commrads, that how they feel about india?
I am sure most of them , will be saying INDIA is great, or INDIA is super.

[Flintlock]

Maybe you should learn the spelling of "commrads" before demanding explanations from people who have approximately the same information as you do.

[IceCold]

Originally Posted by Humanoid

looks like you are very happy.... ..

waiting to have more people to pound upon this opportunity to thrash India....

End of the day it is human tragedy...
Thousands die in Mecca also .. .
Thousands die every year in Chinese Coal mines....

These are all tragedies.. ... how does it feel like if anyone of your close ones dies in a bomb blast ..and some one take a sarcastic dig at it..?

Dont get too emotional. There is nothing in his thread that takes a sarcastic touch. Its a sad incident and yes events like these happen all the time resulting in the loss of innocent life.

[Asim Aquil]

Originally Posted by Humanoid

looks like you are very happy.... ..

waiting to have more people to pound upon this opportunity to thrash India....

End of the day it is human tragedy...
Thousands die in Mecca also .. .
Thousands die every year in Chinese Coal mines....

These are all tragedies.. ... how does it feel like if anyone of your close ones dies in a bomb blast ..and some one take a sarcastic dig at it..?

I'm at a loss to understand your reaction? What exactly pissed you off? I must've missed something.

[IceCold]

Originally Posted by Flintlock

Maybe you should learn the spelling of "commrads" before demanding explanations from people who have approximately the same information as you do.

And maybe you should stop nit pickering on him and discuss the real issue at hand.

[Neo]

Originally Posted by batmannow

Dear Cheetah786, sahib,
I am , not making any fun, of any thing, of any body.

Yes you are!

But if !you ask question, to any of our indian commrads, that how they feel about india?
I am sure most of them , will be saying INDIA is great, or INDIA is super.

Crap!

Do not alter with headlines when quoting a news article and always support it with link.

[Flintlock]

Is it really possible to do anything if panic sets in a crowd of thousands?

Here is where it happened:

[Flintlock]

Its a pretty narrow pathway to the temple, which as usual is tiny and located on top of a hill. So I guess its easy to see how 12,000 people crammed into this area can turn into a tragedy :(

[su-47]

it is indeed a sad event. the temple authorities should widen the gap.

i have seen these sort of stampedes. In Kerala, there is a famous temple in Guruvayoor. When we went there, the number of people crammed into the tiny amount of space was unbeliveable. Though we were all holding hands to prevent being seperatd, people just kept pushing past us and my sister got lost. fortunately she saw the entracnce gate and rushed outside to wait by the car. it took us more than an hour to extricate ourselves from the temple and reach the gates. and we were less than 50 metres from the gate. but people just kept pushing us inwards. i'm sure that anyone who fell down would have been trampled.