New Delhi - At least five worshippers were killed and several injured in a stampede at a Hindu temple in India's western state of Gujarat on Sunday, news reports said. The devotees were crushed to death as crowds rushed ahead for offering prayers at the Pavagad temple located on top of a hill in the eastern Panchmahal district.
Thousands of people had gathered at the temple during the third day of the nine-day festival Hindu known as the 'Navratris.'
"Five persons have died and many others are injured in the stampede. The death toll could go up," district police official Dipankar Trivedi told the PTI news agency adding that the exact cause of the stampede was not yet known.
State officials estimated that 100,000 people were present at the Pavagad temple, considered among the most sacred Hindu temples in Gujarat, which lies 160 kilometres south-east of state's main city of Ahmedabad.
The injured were taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Baroda and top district officials had also reached the scene.
