Religious Stampede - many deaths.

[dancing-loon]

A stampede at a hilltop temple in northern India has killed at least 68 people, police say.

The victims were 30 children and 38 women, with more than 40 others also injured, but the unofficial death toll is said to be at least one hundred, and 200 injured.

It apparently happened when a system of fences on the outside of the temple broke, and people rushed to make their offerings. Up to 50 000 pilgrims may have been present at the time.

The chief minister has offered compensation to the injured and families of the dead.

Already three stampedes have happened this year, but with lesser casualties.

Read more particulars here...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7539509.stm
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I feel sorry for the poor souls, especially the innocent children who follow along with their parents. It puzzles me why people panic and go crazy? The festival started yesterday and lasts till the 11th, so there is lots of time.

I think it is time for some sensible legislation to regulate this religious fervor. Perhaps they should build more temples.

 

[Stretch]

aint religion grand.........and what was "ligion" that it requires the prefex "re"......

thank god I'm an atheist.

 

[L Gilbert]

Yup, me, too, Stretch. People sure love to get irrational about something irrational.

 

[dj03]

I feel sorry for the poor souls, especially the innocent children who follow along with their parents. It puzzles me why people panic and go crazy? The festival started yesterday and lasts till the 11th, so there is lots of time.

I think it is time for some sensible legislation to regulate this religious fervor. Perhaps they should build more temples.

Soccer game frenzies puzzle me more.

I don't know enough about this festival or Hinduism to know if more temples would solve this problem or if there is some significance to this one temple, regardless, the crowd control measures were clearly insufficient and need to be improved.

 

[L Gilbert]

Soccer game frenzies puzzle me more.

I don't know enough about this festival or Hinduism to know if more temples would solve this problem or if there is some significance to this one temple, regardless, the crowd control measures were clearly insufficient and need to be improved.

Crowds in India? You are joking, aren't you? How rich do you think India is that it can afford crowd control at all its events? Perhaps if they had a few clairvoyants they could divine which events are going to be trouble and have crowd control there before the tragedies begin. ;-)

 

[lone wolf]

In a panicked rush to pay tithe.... Were there stormclouds and lightning rushing in? Apparently patience isn't a popular item there....

 

[dancing-loon]

It is even much worse now. The latest headline states at least 145 are dead!

Doesn't it dawn on these blinded people that the "Gods", who are so powerful, aren't doing anything to help? I would dethrone or fire them entirely!!

Latest report:
The disaster happened Sunday at the Naina Devi Temple, which is about 250 kilometres northeast of New Dehli, India's capital.
C.P. Verma, deputy police chief of the Bilaspur District in Himachal Pradesh state, said the stampede resulted from too many pilgrims trying to squeeze into a small area.
One news report said more than 3,000 worshippers had gathered at the temple to pray to a Hindu goddess as part of an annual festival.
State police Chief S.R. Mardi contradicted that view, saying the stampede occurred when a railing collapsed on the path leading up the mountain.
Rescue workers used a cable car at the temple to help remove the wounded from the mountaintop.
S. Vankat Narayan of ITN London told CTV Newsnet on Sunday from New Delhi that it's currently the rainy season in India.
The area where the disaster occurred is in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains, he said.
He suggested some people were trying to rush downhill to avoid inclement weather while others were trying to push up to the temple. All this put pressure on the railing that gave way.
Large crowds and a "certain amount of chaos" are a normal occurrence in India, which is home to more than 1.1 billion people, he said.
This becomes worse during religious festivals, Narayan added.

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/ab...wsitemid=CTVNews/20080803/india_temple_080803

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc..._temple_080803

 

[dancing-loon]

In a panicked rush to pay tithe.... Were there stormclouds and lightning rushing in? Apparently patience isn't a popular item there....

A lack of patience is a universal ill! But, yes, the weather apparently played a role in this tragedy. It's the rainy season, and it's going uphill. Imagine the slippery conditions!