Indian Temple Stampede Kills 63

A stampede broke out at a Hindu temple in northern India today as thousands of people jostled one another to get free clothes and food, leaving at least 63 people dead and dozens more injured, officials said. Most of the victims of the stampede, whose force was so great that it knocked down a gate, were women and children.

About 44 worshipers were injured in the crush of people at the temple, which belongs to a popular local religious leader. Thousands of farmers and villagers had gathered there around noon to receive free goods to mark the anniversary of the death of the leader's wife. Deadly stampedes are a relatively common occurrence at temples in India, where large crowds, sometimes hundreds of thousands of people, congregate in small areas lacking facilities to control big gatherings. (More India stories.)