At least 27 Hindu pilgrims have been killed in a stampede on the banks of a holy river in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, local officials say.
The pilgrims had gathered to take a dip in the Godavari River at the start of the Maha Pushkaralu festival.
The stampede occurred at 08:00 AM local time in the Rajahmundry district.
Nearly 24 million pilgrims are expected to take part in the 12-day festival. Pilgrims believe that taking a bath in the river will rid them of their sins.
“The incident happened as the first set of worshippers were coming out of the river after taking a dip and then got in the way of others who wanted to be in the water at an auspicious time,” AFP news agency quoted senior police official A Srinivasan Rao as saying.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who bathed in the river at the festival on Tuesday morning, said in a series of tweets that he was monitoring the situation and urged people not to panic.
Deadly stampedes during religious gatherings are fairly common in India.
In October 2013, 115 people died during a stampede at a Hindu festival in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
Navratri festival stampede death toll in Madhya Pradesh, India, has risen to 109, local officials have said.
Many were crushed after panic broke out on a bridge near Ratangarh temple. Others drowned when they jumped from the bridge into river water below.
Meanwhile, funeral pyres have been burning throughout the night with many of the victims already cremated.
Hundreds of thousands had gathered for the festival of Navratri (nine nights in Sanskrit).
Officials said the stampede may have been sparked by a rumor that the bridge was about to collapse.
Navratri festival stampede death toll in Madhya Pradesh has risen to 109
“The latest information we have from the ground is that 109 people killed and 133 were injured,” news agency AFP quoted Anand Mishra, an officer in the local police control room in Datia district, as saying on Monday morning.
“We recovered the bodies from the river and from where they were crushed to death,” he added.
The accident happened at about 09:00 on Sunday. The victims were mostly women and children, officials said.
The narrow bridge is about 500 m long and had only recently been rebuilt following another stampede in 2007.
Local official Sanket Bhondve said the immediate priority was to provide relief to the injured.
Hindu festivals in India are notorious for deadly stampedes.
In the past year, dozens have died in three similar tragedies.
At least 89 Indian pilgrims, mostly women and children, have been killed in a stampede at a Hindu festival in Madhya Pradesh state, local officials have said.
Many were crushed after panic broke out on a bridge near the Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh state. Others died when they jumped from the bridge.
Officials said the stampede may have been sparked by a rumor that the bridge was about to collapse.
Hundreds of thousands had gathered near the town of Datia for the festival.
The narrow bridge is about 500 m long, and had only recently been rebuilt following another stampede in 2007.
At least 89 Indian pilgrims have been killed in a stampede at a Hindu festival in Madhya Pradesh state
Madhya Pradesh health minister Narottam Mishra said 89 people were confirmed to have died.
“The cause of the stampede is a matter of judicial inquiry. Information from locals suggests that rumors of the bridge giving way could have led to the stampede,” he said.
Other reports suggested that police sparked panic by using batons to control the crowd.
Officials said the dead included 42 women, 30 children and 17 men.
Emergency crews and specialist divers were still searching the river for bodies.
Local official Sanket Bhondve said the immediate priority was to provide relief to those injured.
The accident happened at about 09:00, but information was slow to emerge because the temple is in a remote area with erratic mobile-phone coverage.
Hindu festivals in India are notorious for deadly stampedes.
At least seven people have been injured in a stampede in China, which happened when David Beckham arrived at Shanghai Tongji University.
Witnesses said about 1,000 fans rushed forward, as former England star David Beckham arrived and waved to them.
Retired David Beckham, 38, was there to meet members of the university team, as an ambassador to the Chinese Super League.
At least seven people have been injured in a stampede in China, which happened when David Beckham arrived at Shanghai Tongji University
Fans pushed through a police cordon, and students, police and university security guards were injured.
Chu Dan, a Tongji University player, described the situation as “too crazy”.
“We didn’t expect so many people showing up here. Too many fans of Beckham,” he said.
The event was subsequently cancelled and Shanghai police said they would investigate.
A post from David Beckham, on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo, wished the injured speedy recoveries and expresses regret for the cancellation.
The retired footballer is in China on a seven-day promotional tour for the country’s top football league.
David Beckham began his new role as “image ambassador” when he announced his retirement from professional football, having won the French league title with his team, Paris Saint-Germain.
Three women have died in a stampede at a Halloween party in Madrid, Spanish officials say.
They say that two more people were seriously injured at the gathering at the Madrid Arena.
It was not immediately known what caused the crush, but reports suggest the panic began after a flare was thrown in the crowd.
The building, which can house up to 10,000 people, was evacuated after the incident.
Two of the victims were 18 years old, while the third was 25, Spanish police say.
“There was a human crush at the only exit they had because the others were sealed off,” a partygoer – who gave her name as Sandra – told Spain’s Cadena Ser radio station.
The stampede recalled a mass panic at the Love Parade music festival in Germany that killed 21 people in 2010.
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