DHAKA: At least 110 pilgrims including children were killed and over 100 injured in a stampede at Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh in India on Sunday morning.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered a magisterial inquiry to probe the tragedy.

Atleast 50 were killed in stampede, while others drowned after jumping off the bridge in panic. The Ratangarh ‘Mata’ temple located about 55km from district headquarters and 405km north from state capital.

Chief medical and health officer RH Gupta told Times of India, "We have counted 105 bodies so far. Several pilgrims died on way to hospital. The toll may rise.”

Whereas, director general of police Nandan Kumar Dubey put the toll so far to "around 85".

The tragedy was allegedly caused by rumour that the bridge on Sindh River, through which the pilgrims were heading towards temple, was collapsing after a tractor trolley rammed into it and fell into the river.

There were more than 50,000 devotees around the spot.

Eyewitness Manoj Sharma, 28, said that ‘police lathicharge during the panic run worsened the situation, forcing many to jump off the bridge’.

He is a resident of Bhander village in Datia district was along with his friends to visit the temple when the tragedy took place.

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in India Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered a judicial inquiry into the tragedy and Congress president Sonia Gandhi has expressed shock and anguish. The Ratangarh temple is 55 km from the Datia district headquarters.

BDST: 1023 HRS, OCT 13, 2013
SR/BSk