Mumbai, January 25
More than 300 persons, most of them women and children, perished in a major fire and the resulting stampede at the Mandradevi shrine in the town of Wai in Satara district, 250 km from here, today.
According to the police, more than 2.5 lakh pilgrims had gathered at the hilltop shrine, 4,500 feet above sea level, for the annual four-day fair, which culminated today.
Around 11 am when the devotees began the coconut breaking ceremony in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, some of them slipped and fell on the coconut milk and other liquids used to worship the deity, Superintendent of Police C.P. Kumbhar told mediapersons in Wai.
In the resultant melee, devotees who had queued up to enter the shrine and were unaware of the commotion inside began to jostle and push their way into the place of worship, Kumbhar said.
In the free-for-all, scores of devotees were crushed to death on the temple premises itself.
Meanwhile more than 4,000 panic-stricken devotees stuck at the summit of the hillock, where the temple is located, attempted to rush their way down against the oncoming devotees causing another stampede, the police said.
Soon angry crowds began to uproot makeshift stalls along the narrow winding path to the shrine. Many of the stalls where food was being cooked for sale soon caught fire.
With LPG gas cylinders exploding all over, the conflagration spread to the barricades meant for orderly movement of pilgrims, according to the police. Many of the devotees who were pinned within the enclosures were charred to death.
Eyewitnesses told television channels that there was not enough police presence to control the crowd.
A large number of women, children and elderly pilgrims who were pushed down to the ground died due to asphyxiation, the police said. Most of them were taken to a small hospital in rural Wai some distance away.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil who flew down to the site of the mishap appeared stunned by the extent of the mishap.
The Maharashtra Government has decided to cancel all Republic Day celebrations tomorrow in the wake of the tragedy.
The government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh to the next kin of those killed and Rs 25,000 to those seriously injured in the incident. Those who suffered minor injuries would be paid Rs 10,000, Mr Deshmukh announced.
