By Xinhua,
New Delhi : At least 40 people have been killed and about 100 people injured in a major stampede in the Chamunda Devi temple in Mehrangarh near Jodhpur, Rajasthan at the start of Navaratra festival on Tuesday, according to NDTV.
The reason for the stampede at the temple in a hillock in the famous Jodhpur Fort was not known.
Of the 40 dead, 30 bodies were brought to Mahatma Gandhi Hospital and the remaining 10 to Mathura Das Hospital here, Divisional Commissioner Kiran Soni Gupta said.
The devotees in huge number, especially women, had gathered at the temple from early Tuesday morning in view of the Navratra festival starting from Tuesday.
More than 10,000 people had gathered at the Chamunda temple in Jodhpur’s centuries-old hilltop Mehrangarh Fort at the start of a major Hindu festival when the incident occurred at 6:15 am (0045 GMT).
Television footage showed devotees carrying limp bodies to police vehicles.