Bengal temple stampede leaves 3 dead, over 60 injured

Kolkata: At least three pilgrims died and more than 60 others were injured in a stampede early on Friday after a portion of a wall near a temple in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district collapsed amid incessant rain, a minister said.
The incident took place in the famous Loknath temple in North 24 Parganas’s Kachua where pilgrims had gathered in a massive number on account of the Bengali saint Baba Loknath Brahmachari’s birth anniversary.
“Three persons have been killed and 60-70 persons got injured in the Kachua temple early on Friday. A number of injured persons have been shifted to Kolkata’s National Medical College and Hospital. Two of them are critical,” state Food Minister and Trinamool’s North 24 Parganas district President Jyotipriya Mullick told IANS.
He said the accident happened as thousands to pilgrims jostled to enter the through a narrow entrance after the rain had stopped.
However, a temple managing committee member said he saw no administrative fault on their part. (IANS)