At least seven devotees were killed and more than 12 others injured in a stampede at Ashok Dham temple in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district, with the death toll likely to rise, officials said.
A senior police official confirmed the deaths of seven people in the incident. The devotees, mostly women, had gathered at the temple to offer holy water on the third ‘Somwari’ of the Shravan month.
According to preliminary information, the incident occurred on the road leading from Ashok Dham railway station to the temple. A few hours earlier, an electricity pole had reportedly fallen on the route. Thousands of devotees were standing in queues to enter the temple when the fallen pole allegedly came in contact with the crowd, triggering panic.
As chaos spread, devotees began running in different directions. The barricading gave way, causing several people to fall over one another.
A devotee who was standing in the queue said there was a huge crowd when word spread that an electricity pole had fallen and that some people had suffered electric shocks. Panic soon gripped the devotees, who began running for safety. The barricading then collapsed, causing people to fall on top of one another.
The Lakhisarai District Magistrate said he had been at the site since around 3.30 am and that the crowd suddenly swelled at around 6.30 am. “A little later, we learnt that people had fallen on one another after the barricading on the side of the field broke,” he said.
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary expressed grief over the deaths of devotees in the stampede and announced Rs 4 lakh ex gratia to the kin of each deceased.
"The incident at Ashok Dham in Lakhisarai is tragic and heartbreaking. It has deeply saddened me. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. Necessary instructions have been issued to the administration to ensure proper and prompt medical care for the injured. May God grant peace to the departed souls and a speedy recovery to those who have been injured," he wrote on X.
The incident comes around five months after a stampede at a temple in Bihar’s Nalanda district. On March 31, more than 25,000 devotees had gathered at the Maghra Sheetla Temple in Nalanda on the last Tuesday of the Chaitra month.
A stampede broke out following pushing and shoving among devotees who were in a hurry to have darshan. Nine people, including eight women, were killed in the incident.
