Madhya Pradesh stampede to enter temple: 109 Hindu pilgrims die
New Delhi (AsiaNews / Agencies) -
The toll from the incident that took place yesterday in Madhya Pradesh, where
thousands of Hindu pilgrims were involved in a stampede near the temple of
Ratangarh, now stands at 109 dead . The victims were mostly
women and children. Official
sources speak of 133 injured. The
authorities have already conducted autopsies , allowing families to proceed
with the cremation , according to the traditional funeral rites of Hinduism .
Panic
and the subsequent stampede seems to have been triggered by rumors about the
possible collapse of the bridge that leads to the entrance of the temple. At
the time, at least 25 thousand people were on the structure . Most
of the victims who died were trampled on by the crowd , while others have lost
their lives by jumping from the bridge.
Every
year hundreds of thousands flock to the remote temple of Ratangarh to honor
Durga, the "Divine Mother " of the Hindu pantheon , depicted riding a
tiger with many arms , wielding weapons and tracing symbolic gestures . She represents
both creation and destruction. The
worship of Durga is celebrated during the 10th and the last day of the festival
of Navaratra .
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