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SHIMLA, India - At least 68 Hindu worshippers, nearly half of them children, were killed Sunday in a stampede during a religious festival in the northern Indian hill state of Himachal Pradesh, police said.
The accident took place at the famed Naina Devi temple in the state's Bilaspur district, where tens of thousands of people have been gathering for the festival that started Saturday.
"Sixty-eight people are confirmed dead and 45 others are injured," K.K Indoria, police superintendent of Bilaspur, told AFP.
Another top official said nearly 80 people had died.
"About 80 people have died and about 30 people are injured," P.C Kapoor, the state's principal secretary, told the NDTV news channel.
Most people died of suffocation, and around 30 of the dead were children, police said.
Police said nearly 50,000 worshippers were expected daily during the week-long festival, but many more had turned up on Sunday, leading to a massive rush at the pilgrimage centre in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The accident occurred when a railing at the popular shrine collapsed under the weight of devotees -- many of whom fell down at the hilltop temple, which is situated about 150 kilometres (90 miles) from state capital Shimla.
The fall of the railing at the narrow, steep staircase leading to the temple resulted in commotion and panic among pilgrims who had come to offer prayers to the goddess Nanda Devi.
Many of the deceased were from the neighbouring Punjab state, from where additional police had been requested to help at the accident site.
Television pictures showed that the temple was packed, with hundreds of devotees gathered around a colourful float of Hindu deities.
"A lot of people were confined in a small area," district deputy commissioner C.P Verma said.
Temple stampedes are common in India during festivities.
Six people died in a similar accident at a popular Hindu festival in the eastern state of Orissa in July, where about a million people had gathered in Puri town for the annual celebrations.
In March, nine people were killed and many more injured at a religious gathering in central India when a railing broke at the temple premises, leading to a stampede among 100,000 devotees.
- AFP/ir
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