A Hindu festival in eastern India turned deadly Monday when a power outage sparked a stampede where hundreds of thousands of worshipers were gathered. On Tuesday, authorities in Bihar state put the death toll at 14.
The stampede occurred late Monday evening in Patna, the capital of Bihar, as Hindus worshiped the sun god along the banks of the Ganges River for the festival of Chhath. Patna police superintendent Jayant Kant said worshipers on a makeshift bamboo bridge going into the river panicked when the outage occurred. Nine children and eights adults were trampled to death in the chaos.
At least 20 worshipers were reportedly taken to a local hospital with injuries. No other details were immediately available.
Stampedes at religious festivals and events are common in India. Local media has dubbed them “temple crushes.” Two months ago, a stampede at a religious festival killed 9 people.
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