India temple stampede toll rises to 91, more deaths feared

"The death toll has reached 91 and 10 others are in a critical condition," D. K. Arya, the deputy inspector general of police in the Madhya Pradesh State, told reporters.

He warned that the toll could rise further, especially that some people had fallen into the river during the stampede.

"All the bodies from the river are still to be recovered."

Police complained it was very difficult for the medical teams to help the injured due to the presence of massive crowds, which had gathered at the temple on the occasion of Dasera, a major festival celebrated across India.

Thousands of pilgrims had assembled to visit the Hindu Ratangarh Mata Mandir (Ratangarh Mother Temple) on the occasion of Dasera, a major Hindu festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil.

The crowds were on their way up to the temple, which is on a hill, when the stampede occurred on a narrow bridge over the Sindh River.

There are conflicting reports regarding what caused the stampede.

According to some local TV channels, the stampede occurred after police started using baton charge to control the crowds on the bridge, causing confusion and bedlam, with about 40 persons getting crushed while others died after they either fell or jumped into the river.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Anthony JC De Sa, the most senior bureaucrat in the state, said the stampede was triggered by a rumor about the bridge being unsafe.

"There were about 25,000 people on a bridge that is about 1.5 km from the temple," he told a local newspaper.

"A section of the railing broke that led to the rumor that the bridge was unsafe. This led to the stampede."

The Madhya Pradesh State's government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the stampede.

Stampedes during religious festivals are a regular occurrence in India, despite efforts by authorities to curb the menace.

At least 36 people were killed in a stampede during the Kumbh Mela festival, considered one of the world’s largest gatherings of people in one place, at Allahabad in February.

Over 104 people were killed in a stampede at the Sabarimalai temple in the southern Kerala state in January 2011, while 224 Hindu pilgrims died in a stampede near Jodhpur in Rajasthan in 2008.

By Amberish K Diwanji