At least seven people were killed and nine others were injured in a stampede at Baba Siddhnath Temple in Bihar’s Jehanabad district in the early hours of Monday (August 12).
The injured were rushed to the hospitals in Makhdumpur and Jehanabad.
Baba Siddhnath Temple is also known as the Shiva Temple. Today being the fourth Monday of the holy month of Sawan, a large number of devotees had thronged to the temple, leading to a huge rush.
‘Situation under control’
“We are monitoring everything,” Jehanabad DM Alankrita Pandey was quoted as saying by ANI, who also informed that “now the situation is under control.”
“It is a sad incident… All the arrangements were tight, we are taking stock of the situation and then will further inform you about this,” Vikas Kumar, SDO Jehanabad said.
Police trying to identify bodies
“The District Magistrate (DM) and the Superintendent of police (SP) have visited the spot and they are taking stock of the situation… We meeting and inquiring the family (of the people dead and injured)… We are trying to identify the people who have died in the stampede. After this we will send the bodies for post-mortem,” Divakar Kumar Vishwakarma, SHO Jehanabad, said.
A brawl led to stampede in Bihar temple?
An eyewitness to the stampede at Baba Siddhnath Temple said, “Had the Administration worked well, the flower seller would not have picked a fight. There was a brawl. It happened right before us. So many of us were trapped there.”
“Someone pulled me out of there. Had I been stuck there for a minute or two more, I would have died. The Police were nowhere to be seen at the spot, they were deployed along the route,” he further said.
Baba Siddhnath Temple originally known as Siddheshwar Nath Temple was built during the Gupta period in the 7th cetury AD.
This temple of Lord Shiva is situated atop one of the highest peaks in the range of the Barabar Hills.
The stampede in Bihar comes within a month after 120 people died on July 2 in a religious congregation at Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras. The stampede incident took place at the religious gathering led by Baba Narayan Hari or ‘Bhole Baba.’
More details are awaited.
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7 killed in stampede at Baba Siddhnath Temple in Bihar’s Jehanabad; know what eyewitness said
