A devastating stampede occurred at the Mansa Devi Temple in Haridwar, India, resulting in the deaths of at least six people and injuring dozens more. The incident happened when a high-voltage electric wire reportedly snapped and fell onto a temple path, triggering panic among the large crowd of devotees gathered at the site.
“The sight of the wire falling caused immediate panic, and a desperate scramble to escape led to the stampede,” local police official Ritesh Saha said, according to The Times of India newspaper. Vinay Shankar Pandey, a senior government official in Uttarakhand, confirmed the deaths, stating that nearly 35 injured people were transported to a nearby hospital.
Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed distress over the incident, saying, “It is extremely distressing to receive news of a stampede on the route to the Mansa Devi Temple in Haridwar.” He assured that relief and rescue operations were underway, with the Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force, local police, and rescue teams actively engaged in relief efforts.
Senior Superintendent of Police Pramendra Singh Dobal told local media that preliminary investigations suggest the panic was triggered by rumors of an electric current, which led to chaos. Authorities are investigating what caused the overhead wire to collapse and whether proper crowd management protocols were in place.
This incident highlights the recurring issue of crowd surges at religious gatherings in India, where massive groups often congregate at temples or pilgrimage sites, sometimes overwhelming local infrastructure and security measures. Similar incidents have occurred in recent months, including a stampede at a Hindu festival in Odisha that killed at least three people and a crowd crush at a fire-walking ritual in Goa that claimed six lives.