India Temple Stampede Kills 89 In Hindu Festival

Some 89 pilgrims , mostly women and childeren were killed in temple stampede at a Hindu festival in madhya Pradesh, central India. Many were crushed after panic broke out on a bridge near Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh state. Officials said the stampede may have been sparked by a rumour that the bridge was about to collapse. Hundreds of thousands had gathered near the town of Datia for the festival. A local devotee who survived the crush told BBC that he heard screams and people began rushing off the bridge. He said some of the younsters panicked and jumped into the swollen river. The bridge is 500 m long and had only rcently been rebuilt following anothe stampede in 2007. Deadly stampedes are common during India's often chaotic religious festivals. Most of the incidents are blamed on poor crowd- control techniques and planning by the auhorities. Indian religious festivals often attract hunders of thousands of people, sometimes as millions as in casr of Kumbh Mela festival in Uttar Pradesh. The Indian bureaucracy and security forces are ill-equipped and too under staff to manage such mega-events. Pilgrims are sometimes in a hurry to finisg their prayers and get home early. On accasions the rumours of accidents or bridge collapse have also triggered stampedes. Repeated accidents of this kind only show that no lessons have been learnt. I suuest Hindus to get training from Saudis how to manage millions of crownds on such occasions. Saudis manage nearly 3 millions officially registered Hajis and 3 millions unregustered hajis who cross borders duing last five days of Hajj. There happens no major incidents except some minor ones. Secondly , Muslims have Allah's help. Because that is HIS Home and Hajis go for prayers and perform Hajj to His Home. Subhan Allah.