PATNA, India (AFP): At least 15 people were killed on Monday in two separate incidents in eastern India while paying homage to the Hindu deity Shiva during the holy month of Shravan, officials said.
A fire at a hotel in Tarapith in West Bengal state killed eight people, while seven others were killed in a stampede at a Shiva temple in neighbouring Bihar.
The victims of the hotel blaze had travelled to Tarapith to offer prayers on the final Monday of Shravan, a sacred month dedicated to Shiva that attracts huge crowds of worshippers.
"Words cannot adequately express the grief I feel for the families who have lost their loved ones," West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said in a statement.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
In Bihar, seven pilgrims were crushed to death and 19 others injured when a stampede broke out at the Ashok Dham temple in Lakhisarai district.
The stampede was triggered after rumours spread that an electric pole had fallen on devotees inside the temple premises, district magistrate Shailendra Kumar told AFP.
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary described the incident as "heart-wrenching" and announced a compensation of 400,000 rupees ($4,180) for the family of each victim.
Deadly stampedes are a common occurrence at big Indian gatherings and religious festivals, mainly due to poor crowd management.
One of India's worst recent crowd disasters occurred in 2024 in Uttar Pradesh, where 120 people died during a religious gathering attended by tens of thousands of devotees. -- AFP
