The accident occurred on Sunday at the Naina Devi temple, located on the top of a mountain in the Bilaspur district of the state of Himachal-Pradesh, when tens of thousands of worshipers were attending a religious festival that began on Saturday.
Panic broke out over rumors of a landslide, prompting worshipers to rush back down a path leading to the temple, colliding with crowds on their way up the mountain. When railings gave way, scores of people fell to their deaths, and dozens of others were trampled in the stampede.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed condolences to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh following the tragedy.
Temples in India are regularly hit by stampedes, as thousands of people gather to pray during religious festivals, without adequate crowd-control procedures in place.
