At least 12 devotees died and 16 were injured in a stampede at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir early on Saturday, PTI reported. The incident took place due to a huge rush of devotees, outside the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine.
“All the injured have been taken to a hospital,” Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police said, according to NDTV. By evening, six people who were injured had been discharged, officials told PTI.
A huge number of devotees entered the Vaishno Devi Bhawan without permission slips, NDTV quoted officials as saying. However, according to The Indian Express, the stampede occurred after police baton-charged some devotees to control the large number of people in the area. More than 25,000 pilgrims had reportedly been allowed to make their way to the shrine.
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh claimed a minor altercation among some young boys led to the stampede. “Police and officials from the civil administration were quick to respond, and the order within the crowd was immediately restored, but by that time, the damage had been done,” he told PTI.
Of the 12 deceased pilgrims, seven were from Uttar Pradesh and three from Delhi. The other two were from Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, officials told PTI.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha announced there will be an inquiry into the stampede. The inquiry committee will be headed by the principal secretary (home) with the ADGP, and Jammu and Divisional Commissioner, Jammu as members, News18 reported.
The team will submit its report on the stampede within a week, the Jammu and Kashmir administration said.
Sinha also announced ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for each of the deceased, and Rs 2 lakh for those injured.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “extremely saddened” by the deaths, and offered his condolences to the victims’ families. Union minister Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, said Modi was “personally monitoring and keeping track” of the situation.
Singh visited the shrine on Saturday evening for an inspection. “We will now hold discussions in Katra with the Vaishno Devi trust officials,” he told ANI. “We have to limit the number of devotees going for the yatra & ask them to cooperate.”
National Conference chief Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party head Mehbooba Mufti also expressed their condolences. Mufti accused the police and administration of not performing their duties.
The yatra was allowed to resume on Saturday morning.
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