Death toll rises in Andhra Pradesh river stampede

(Vatican Radio)  At least 27 people were killed and dozens injured on Tuesday in a stampede during a Hindu religious bathing festival on a river bank in southern India.

Listen to Carol Andrade's report:

The festival, known as the Godavari Pushkaralu, is held on the banks of the Godavari River in the southwest coastal town of Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh, and the big version comes once every 144 years. This was the smaller version, held once every 12 years, but ten million people are expected to attend. The idea is to honour and celebrate rivers.

This morning, however, the river extracted a cruel toll of pilgrims coming into its waters to bathe. Of the 27 people now believed dead, 25 were women. With poor crowd management on display at this particular spot, many women slipped and fell under the feet of the crowd surging ahead. Most wanted to bathe at a particularly auspicious time.

Ironically, on the same steps leading to the river, the chief minister had taken a dip early this morning, but then there were scores of policemen in place to ensure there was no untoward development.

The injured, of whom there are scores, were rushed immediately to local hospitals and the Chief Minister himself was in the control room at noon to examine the arrangements. He admitted that poor crowd control had led to the arrangements breaking down but this is poor consolation to those who have lost loved ones. Compensation is yet to be declared.