Stampede at India temple kills 10

NEW DELHI: A stampede outside a Hindu temple killed at least 10 people in eastern India early on Monday after a surge in the kilometers-long queue of up to 150,000 people.
Police said devotees rushed toward the Baidyanath Jyotirlinga temple complex in Jharkhand state after news circulated that the doors were opening.
Those sleeping in the enormous queue were trampled in the crush after first prayers between 4:00 and 4:30am, said SN Pradhan, additional director general of police in Jharkhand.
Visitors had massed overnight for Monday, considered an auspicious date to visit the complex, which includes a main temple and 21 smaller ones devoted to Shiva, the god of destruction.
“The first prayer ceremony is conducted by the temple priests and then the doors of the temple are opened for the devotees,” Pradhan said. “Many tried to rush to the head of the queue which led to chaos and as some of them fell, the devotees got trampled,” Pradhan said.
“Ten people including one female devotee are now confirmed dead. Another 15 to 20 people have received injuries,” he said.
Pradhan said the queue was more than six km long because it was Monday and it is the Hindu holy month of Shravan when devotees flock to temples around the country.