At least 90 pilgrims were killed and dozens more injured at a stampede at a religious festival in southern India on Friday, the PTI news agency said.
The pilgrims were returning from the remote Sabarimala Ayyappa Hindu temple in the Karala district. The stampede was sparked when a vehicle ploughed through the worshipers on a narrow stretch of forest, starting a panic.
The Times of India reported that the stampede broke out when the jeep broke down and pilgrims tried to move it. It claimed the jeep overturned, crushing several people and causing cars behind it to slip.
The Travancore Dewasom Board, which administers the Ayyapa temple said the festival, which finished on Friday, had seen a 20 percent increase in pilgrims this year, drawing in hundreds of thousands of people.
Kerala Governor R S Gavai expressed grief over the tragedy.
"I am deeply shocked and saddened at the tragic accident at Pulmedu in Idukki district in which several Ayyappa devotees returning from Sabarimala lost their precious lives," he said.
MOSCOW, January 14 (RIA Novosti)
