At least nine persons were killed and several others injured in a stampede at the Sheetla Mata temple in Bihar’s Nalanda district on Tuesday, The Hindu quoted Nalanda District Magistrate Kundan Kumar as saying. Most of those who died are reported to be women.

Nalanda Superintendent of Police Bharat Soni said there was a massive crowd at the temple and that the police had no information that there would be such a rush, ANI reported.

Tuesdays typically draw large crowds to the temple in Maghra village, the Hindustan Times reported.

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Soni added that hot weather also contributed to the stampede, ANI reported.

“When women were entering the temple premises after taking a holy dip in cold water, they started collapsing due to dehydration and suffocation,” ANI quoted him as saying. “This led to the unfortunate incident.”

The locals complained that there were inadequate crowd control arrangements at the site.

The district administration has closed the temple to manage the situation, The Hindu reported. The state’s chief secretary has been directed to initiate an inquiry, and a Special Investigation Team has been constituted to examine the circumstances leading to the stampede, the newspaper reported.

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The station house officer of the Deep Nagar police station has been suspended, the newspaper quoted Soni as saying.

The bodies of those who died have been taken to Bihar Sharif Sadar Hospital for post-mortem examinations, The Times of India reported. Among the deceased identified so far are Rita Devi, Kanti Devi, Rekha Devi, Revanti Febi, Malo Devi and Kinta Devi.

The Bihar government has announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 6 lakh to the families of the deceased, while the Prime Minister’s Office announced Rs 2 lakh for each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.