Two dead, many injured in Barabanki temple stampede

Hindustan Times

6 days ago

At least two people died and several others were injured in a stampede-like situation near Barabanki's Ausaneshwar temple early Monday morning, officials said. Doctors attending on an injured person after the Barabanki temple stampede on Monday. (PTI PHOTO)
The Barabanki police said the incident occurred after a monkey tugged at an electric wire, causing it to fall on a tin shed.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has taken notice of the incident and expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased.
'He has directed the district administration officials to expedite the proper treatment of the injured and relief operations,' the chief minister's office posted on X in Hindi.
According to local officials, the two deceased were identified as Prashant Kumar (16) and Ramesh Kumar (35).
The state government has announced immediate relief of ₹5 lakh to the family members of both the deceased.
There was a rush from 1am onwards at the temple on the third Monday of the Hindu holy month of Sawan. Over 2000 devotees were there at the time of the incident.
It was an accident and rescue operations were promptly initiated following which no more casualties were reported, said additional director general (ADG) of police, Lucknow zone, Sujit Pandey who rushed to the spot under the Haidergarh police station limits, nearly 40 kilometres from the Barabanki district headquarters after the CM's directives. Pandey inspected the incident site as well as crowd management measures.
Most of the injured people, or those who fainted due to the crowd rush, are back home after first aid, said Pandey who also ordered videography of the site.
He said normalcy had returned at the temple and devotees are having darshan in a routine manner.
District magistrate Shashank Tripathi said a stampede-like situation was reported at the Ausaneshwar temple during 'Jalabhishek at around 2.30 am'.
'Devotees were offering prayers when a monkey jumped onto an electric wire, causing it to fall on a shed. This led to an electric current passing through the structure. Medical treatment of the injured is underway. Around 19 people were injured, with two in a serious condition.'
Barabanki chief medical officer (CMO) Avadhesh Yadav told media persons that 19 injured individuals were brought to the Haidergarh Community Health Center (CHC), where two were declared dead. A few others were then referred to Trivediganj CHC, while one was sent to the district hospital for further treatment.
The Barabanki stampede comes a day after a similar incident in Haridwar's Mansa Devi Temple where eight people died.
On January 29, a stampede occurred during the Mahakumbh Mela in Prayagraj during which several people lost their lives.
On July 2, 2024, 121 people, mainly women and children, died in a stampede after a religious congregation in UP's Hathras.