Dozens Killed in India Festival Stampede
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - At least 32 people have been killed and 15 others injured in a stampede during an important Hindu festival in India.
Indian officials said the accident occurred on Friday near a public park in the city of Patna in the eastern Bihar state and that the fatalities were mostly women and children.
Dussehra - a festival during which effigies of the demon king Ravana are burnt to mark the victory of good over evil - draws huge crowds at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna, the administrative capital of Bihar.
"We have information that 32 people including women and children died due to a stampede," Gupteshwar Pandey, additional director-general of police for Bihar state, told AFP news agency.
"Dozens of people were seriously injured."
In addition to the dead, at least 15 people were taken to hospital. Police were examining closed-circuit television pictures to determine the cause.
Reports said rumours of a live electricy cable falling on people prompted the stampede, with people rushing toward the exit as they were leaving at the end of the Dussehra celebrations.
Officials were quoted by NDTV as saying that some people fainted during the stampede and were admitted to the Patna Medical College Hospital, which is just two kilometres from the site of the incident.
Television channels quoted a witness as saying there were not enough lights once the ceremony was over.
Politicians cutting across party lines criticised the Bihar government for not taking enough precautions to prevent such incidents during festive time.
