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140 Killed in India Temple Stampede

40 children among the dead in mountaintop pilgrimmage

By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 3, 2008 8:58 AM CDT

(Newser) – At least 140 people, including at least 40 children, were killed today in a stampede when a restraining rail gave way at a Hindu temple in northern India, the BBC reports. The pilgrims were attending a 9-day religious festival. Authorities used a cable car to remove the injured from the mountaintop Naina Devi temple, located about 100 miles from the Himalyan town of Shimia. It's the third deadly stampede to occur during a religious festival this year in India, though death tolls were a fraction of today's grim tally.



Bodies of devotees are seen in Himachal Pradesh, India, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008. The devotees were attending a nine-day religious festival at the Naina Devi Temple when a stampede broke out.
Bodies of devotees are seen in Himachal Pradesh, India, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008. The devotees were attending a nine-day religious festival at the Naina Devi Temple when a stampede broke out.   (AP Photo/Rahul Sharma)
Bodies of devotees are seen in the Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, India, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008. The devotees were attending a nine-day religious festival at the Naina Devi Temple. At least 68 people, including 30 children, were killed Sunday when pilgrims stampeded at a mountaintop Hindu temple in northern...
Bodies of devotees are seen in the Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, India, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008. The devotees were attending a nine-day religious festival at the Naina Devi Temple. At least 68 people,...   (AP Photo/Rahul Sharma)
Devotees participate in the 131st Rath Yatra, or Chariot procession, in Ahmadabad, India, Friday, July 4, 2008. In Puri, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) from Bhubaneswar, police say at least six Hindu worshippers have died in a stampede in eastern India as a crowd of pilgrims rushed toward the statue...
Devotees participate in the 131st Rath Yatra, or Chariot procession, in Ahmadabad, India, Friday, July 4, 2008. In Puri, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) from Bhubaneswar, police say at least six Hindu...   (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
At least six Hindu worshippers died in Puri in a stampede last month. Today at least 80 were killed in a mountaintop Hindu temple near Shimia.
At least six Hindu worshippers died in Puri in a stampede last month. Today at least 80 were killed in a mountaintop Hindu temple near Shimia.   (AP Photo/Biswaranjan Rout)
The temple stampede occurred close to the town of Shimia in northern India.
The temple stampede occurred close to the town of Shimia in northern India.
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