India temple stampede kills seven: authorities

Devotees are seen at the site of a stampede at the Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj. [Niharika Kulkarni, AFP]

A stampede at a Hindu temple in India's eastern Bihar state killed at least seven people and injured 19 others on Monday, officials said.

Deadly stampedes are a common occurrence at big Indian gatherings and religious festivals, mainly due to poor crowd management.

The incident occurred at the Ashok Dham temple in Bihar state's Lakhisarai district, where a massive crowd had gathered to pay homage to the Hindu deity Shiva.

The stampede was triggered after rumours spread that an electric pole had fallen on devotees inside the temple premises, district magistrate Shailendra Kumar told AFP.

"The situation is under control now," Kumar said, confirming the casualties.

Around 19 others were undergoing hospital treatment, he added.

Bihar's Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary called the incident "heart-wrenching" and announced compensation of 400,000 rupees ($4,180) to the family of each victim.

The tragedy is the latest in a series of fatal stampedes in India.

In November last year, nine people were killed in a crush at a temple in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Another stampede at a political rally in Tamil Nadu last year left 36 people dead.

One of the country's worst recent crowd disasters occurred in 2024 in Uttar Pradesh, where 120 people were killed during a religious sermon attended by thousands of devotees.