Barabanki stampede: 2 dead, 47 injured; UP govt announces ₹5 lakh ex-gratia

Business Standard

5 days ago

Two people were killed and 47 injured as a stampede broke out at a temple here early on Monday after a live electric wire, broken by monkeys, fell onto a tin shed, leading to panic among devotees.
DGP Rajeev Krishna said that the casualties were caused by electrocution.
The incident occurred at the Avsaneshwar temple in the Haidergarh area during the holy month of Shravan on Monday. Barabanki District Magistrate Shashank Tripathi said that during the 'jalabhishek' ritual, monkeys had damaged an electric wire, which caused current to flow through three tin sheds in the temple complex.
The resulting panic led to a stampede in which two people lost their lives and more than two dozen were injured, he added.
Prashant Kumar (17) from the Mubarakpura village under the Lonikatra police station area, and another devotee, Ramesh Kumar (28), succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment at the Trivediganj Community Health Centre (CHC), officials said.
An official of the UP government said that financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh has been announced for the family of the deceased.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Awadhesh Yadav said that after the accident, policemen brought 29 people to Haidergarh CHC in an ambulance. Nine people were sent to Trivediganj CHC, and six were sent to Kothi CHC.
Five people were seriously injured and are being treated at the district hospital. Of the nine admitted at the Trivediganj CHC, two have died.
Recalling the incident, Ramesh's mother, Champa Devi, said that her son gone to the Avasaneshwar Mahadev temple at around 8 pm, on foot, with his group of friends Ramu Rawat, Harshit, Ankit, Ashish, Rahul and Ajay.
He was standing in the queue for Jalabhishek after bathing in the Gomti river with his friends, and he got electrocuted. Ramesh's wife Lalita is eight months pregnant. They also have a one-year-old son, Anshu.
A sweet shop owner in the temple, Ram Lochan Mishra, said, "News circulated widely that Minister Satish Sharma will do Pushpa Varsha here from a helicopter. This led to a huge crowd. Three to three and a half lakh devotees reached the spot." "At night, a monkey jumped, which possibly broke the wire and caused the accident. At the time of the accident, all the policemen were at the main gate," Mishra said.
He added, "There was a long line of people, about 300 metres, from the ghat to the temple. About three thousand people were in the line when the accident happened. We somehow managed to save our lives and ran away." No comments in this regard could be obtained from Satish Sharma as he was unreachable.
Another injured in the stampede, Arjun Kumar, said, "We were going to offer water when we heard a sound from a pipe near the third number breaker, and after that, an electric current came. Many people fainted in no time. I also fainted. When I regained consciousness, I found myself in the hospital."
A mother of an injured girl pleaded with the CMO for her daughter's treatment. "My daughter is lying in the hospital, and we just want her to get good treatment. We don't want anything else," she said.
This comes a day after eight people were killed in a stampede that broke out during a rush of pilgrims along a stair route leading to the Mansa Devi temple on a hilltop in Haridwar. Rumours of an electric current where the stairs begin triggered panic among people, leading to the stampede, according to the police.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed "deep sorrow" over the loss of lives and extended his condolences to the bereaved families.
"He has directed the district administration officials to expedite the proper treatment of the injured and relief operations," Adityanath's office posted on X in Hindi.
"He has prayed to Lord Mahadev, the supreme deity, to grant salvation to the departed souls and a speedy recovery to the injured," it added.
On the sidelines of the event, DGP Rajeev Krishna told reporters that senior officials, including the zonal and range-level officers, visited the spot.
"Almost all of the injured have been discharged from the hospital after treatment. Some are under observation," he said.
The situation is under control, and devotees continue to offer prayers at the temple, he added.
Meanwhile, opposition parties demanded compensation for the victims. Samajwadi Party's Media Cell posted on X, "The government should give a compensation of Rs 1 crore each to the families of the deceased devotees, ensure proper treatment and compensation for those injured and disclose the correct number of deaths." The UP Congress described the incident as "extremely tragic".
"The news of the death of two devotees due to an electric shock and several others being injured is distressing. We express our deep condolences to the grieving families and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured," it posted on X.
"This incident points to serious deficiencies in the arrangements. Robust security and crowd management measures are extremely necessary at religious sites. We demand that the government provide appropriate compensation and all possible assistance to the affected families," the Congress state unit said.
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