Haridwar temple stampede leaves 6 dead, many injured; probe ordered
Rumour of an electric current where stairs to temple begin sent devotees into a panic, leading to stampede, say police; 35 people rushed to hospital
A stampede broke out at Haridwar’s hilltop Mansa Devi temple where hundreds of devotees had gathered on Sunday (July 27), killing at least six people and leaving many injured. The State Disaster Response Force and the fire brigade are at the spot.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said a magisterial probe has been ordered. “A stampede broke out at the Mansa Devi temple in the morning because of a rumour... We have ordered a magisterial probe into the incident, and those responsible for spreading the rumour will face strict action,” Dhami said.
Rumours of an “electric current” where stairs to the temple begin sent people into panic, leading to the stampede, Haridwar Senior Superintendent of Police Pramendra Singh Dobal told PTI Videos. About 35 people were rushed to hospital and six of them died, he said. The incident took place around 9 am at the temple atop the Shivalik Hills at a height of over 500 feet.
Live Updates
- 27 July 2025 2:32 PM IST
CM Dhami on way to Haridwar
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami leaves from Dehradun to visit the District Hospital in Haridwar to meet the people injured in the Mansa Devi temple stampede. - 27 July 2025 2:23 PM IST
14 seriously injured people referred to AIIMS Rishikesh: Uttarakhand Minister Ganesh Joshi
On Haridwar stampede, Uttarakhand Minister Ganesh Joshi says, "14 seriously injured people have been referred to AIIMS Rishikesh and others are being treated at the district hospital, I have met them and they are fine... The government is providing full support to the victims... It would not be appropriate to draw any conclusion until a detailed investigation is done..." - 27 July 2025 2:20 PM IST
Tragic and heart-wrenching: Yogi Adityanath
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tweets, “The loss of lives in the unfortunate accident on the path to Shri Mansa Devi Temple in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, is extremely tragic and heart-wrenching. My condolences are with the grieving families. I pray to Maa Mansa Devi that the departed souls attain salvation, the sorrowful families receive the strength to bear this immense grief, and the injured recover swiftly. Om Shanti!” - 27 July 2025 2:18 PM IST
Magisterial probe ordered: Dhami
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said a magisterial probe has been ordered into the Mansa Devi temple stampede. “A stampede broke out at the Mansa Devi temple in the morning because of a rumour... We have ordered a magisterial probe into the incident, and those responsible for spreading the rumour will face strict action,” Dhami said. - 27 July 2025 12:26 PM IST
Haridwar stampede | Bengaluru stampede a case of sub-nationalistic passion fuelling sporting frenzy
The numbing and tragic death of 11 fans of the IPL trophy-winning team Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), in a stampede caused at a public reception to the team, throws up various lessons and questions about sporting frenzy. The predominant question is – why would youngsters, most of them well educated, rush to a stadium after having watched the team the previous night winning the IPL trophy?
The answer is frenzy created by the sport which is a global phenomenon on which rests the big money that goes into sporting leagues. Few understand why there should be such frenzy.
Read Binoo K John's opinion piece
- 27 July 2025 12:25 PM IST
Haridwar stampede | Let’s not just blame the easy targets for the stampede deaths at satsang
They came to the Satsang (religious gathering) for salvation and enlightenment, and got stomped and crushed, many of them to death. Many blame the Baba, the godman who led the Satsang, and are baying for his blood. Others blame the Baba’s organisers, who underestimated the size of the crowd that would gather to hear his wise words. They expected 85,000, and nearly three times as many turned up. Yet others blame the police, for not turning out in large enough numbers to maintain order.
All of them miss the point. When 2.5 lakh people scramble to grab some particles, at least, of the dust kicked up by a departing godman’s car, and 121 of them die in the resulting crush, it offers a telling commentary on the state of society. Poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity hold large swathes of India’s population in their vile grip, and suck their innate rationality and human agency out of them, reducing them to a malleable, torpid herd, conditioned to repose facile faith in any self-accredited retail salesman of divinity.
