Haridwar temple stampede leaves 6 dead, many injured; probe ordered

The stampede that left six persons dead and 28 injured was caused by a combination of factors, say witnesses.

1. Overcrowding

A large crowd of devotees came to visit the temple, which is atop the Shivalik Hills at an elevation of over 500 feet. Mahendra Pratap Singh, an eyewitness who saw the stampede from a rooftop a little distance away, said the excess crowd led to the tragic incident.

Mansa Devi temple can be reached through three routes. The first route is by road, which two-wheelers and cars use to go near the temple, while the second route is via a ropeway. The third route is a trek route from near Har ki Pauri, which is also called the staircase path. This path is very narrow and reaches the temple premises directly. There is a ditch and dense bushes on one side of this path.

Before the stampede on Sunday morning, the crowd on this road was so thick that people were barely able to walk. Pressed against each other, all they could do was crawl along. A video shot shortly before the stampede shows a woman stuck in the crowd, barely able to hold her child.

2. Narrow passageway

Video clips of the stampede showed a huge crowd of men, women and children stuck in a narrow passage leading to the temple. Dozens of people, seemingly glued to each other and hardly moving, could only manage to hold the children above their heads.

An injured devotee, Nirmala, admitted at the government hospital, said the stampede happened as the bulk of people going up and those hurrying downwards choked the narrow passage.

“People coming back from the temple pushed those climbing upwards and then people began falling over each other. Nothing could be seen because of the crowd. I kept lying down,” she said from her bed at the hospital.

3. Rumours

A rumour about an electricity current leak triggered panic among the devotees, leading to pushing and shoving.

Some eyewitnesses said a short circuit occurred near the electricity metre installed on the route and that there was a spark, and fear spread among people, which led to the stampede.

Haridwar SSP Pramendra Singh Dobal also confirmed that rumours of an electric current leak where the stairs to the temple begin triggered panic among people, leading to the stampede.

4. Administrative lapse

Locals said if the administration had been a little cautious, considering the possibility of a huge crowd coming to the Mansa Devi temple, the accident could have been avoided.

“Mansa Devi is the biggest centre of attraction for devotees in Haridwar after Har Ki Pauri. Thousands of devotees come here every day. The crowd swells during the month of Sawan as a rule. Being a Sunday, the possibility of a larger crowd was very much there. So, the administration should have been more alert,” said Ajay Jaiswal, a local.

During the Kanwar Yatra, which ended four days ago in Haridwar, 4.5 crore devotees reached Haridwar, according to the claims of the administration. Since it was only a few days after the Kanwar Yatra and it was a Sunday, lakhs of people were in Haridwar, which is a major pilgrimage place.

Most of these devotees had reached the Mansa Devi temple for darshan, locals said. The crowd in the temple was increasing continuously but the administration was unaware of it, they said.

AIIMS Rishikesh Director Dr Meenu Singh says, "The incident took place around 9 am and patients started coming in around 11 am. So far, 15 patients have been brought here and 4-5 have been sent back because they sustained minor injuries. Out of the 10 patients who have been admitted, two are children. Four are in a critical condition... Treatment of all the patients is underway..."

Four of the six killed in the Mansa Devi temple stampede belonged to Uttar Pradesh, an official statement has revealed.

Two have been identified as Aarush (12) of Bareilly and Vicky (18) from Rampur. Two others, whose age has not been confirmed yet, included Vakil of Barabanki and Shanti from Budaun.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed his condolences to the victims’ families.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has termed the stampede at Haridwar’s Mansa Devi temple a failure of the system rather than just an accident, and demanded that accountability be fixed.

In a post in Hindi on X, Kejriwal said, “The heart-wrenching incident of a stampede at the Mansa Devi temple in the holy city of Haridwar has deeply saddened me. May god give strength to those devotees who have lost their loved ones and grant peace to the departed souls.”

He added that such “horrific” incidents at religious sites expose the negligence in management. “This is not just an accident, but a failure of the system, and accountability should be fixed,” the AAP national convenor said in his post.

Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said the incident was “extremely tragic”.

“Several devotees lost their lives and many others were injured in the incident. I pray to god to grant peace to the departed souls, strength to their families to bear this grief and a speedy recovery to all the injured,” he said in a post in Hindi on X.

President Droupadi Murmu has expressed her condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the stampede at the Mansa Devi temple.

“The news of the death of many devotees in the stampede accident on the way to the Mansa Devi temple in Haridwar is deeply painful. I express my heartfelt condolences to all the grieving families. I pray that all the injured devotees recover quickly,” Murmu said in a post on X in Hindi.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visits the District Hospital in Haridwar and meets the people injured in the stampede at Mansa Devi temple. Six people lost their lives in the incident. Dhami has announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

“The injured are being treated. Some have been referred to AIIMS Rishikesh. Our priority is that they get good treatment and recover soon. A toll-free number has also been issued. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered and ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured have been announced.”

President of Mansa Devi Mandir Trust, Mahant Ravindra Puri, says, "There are three ways up to the Mansa Devi temple — a ropeway, a vehicular way and an ancient route direct from Har Ki Pauri... As a huge crowd gathered here, the police were informed, barricades were put up, but still the crowd came up and someone slipped, due to which the entire incident took place... When the temple authorities reached the spot along with the police, we carried all the injured to the district hospital where they are being treated... This is not an incident of electrocution, there are no indications of such a thing happening... We will assist the victim families..."