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36 die in stampede in Indian pilgrimage
February 11, 2013, 9:23 am

[AP]

An estimated 30 million pilgrims had gathered in Allahabad for the festival. [AP]

The number of deaths due to a stampede at a railway station in north India has risen to 36, says the Press Trust of India.

14 people have died of sustained injuries in hospitals overnight.

News reports says the large crowds caused a section of a footbridge at the station to collapse, leading to the accident.

The stampede was caused by a panic, which began after a portion of the railing of a footbridge at the Allahabad Railway station in Uttar Pradesh collapsed on Sunday evening.

More than 200,000 people were at the station at the time of the accident.

Local government officials say the victims include 26 women, nine men and a child – 20 bodies have been already identified.

Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister extended his condolences to relatives of those killed in the tragedy and asked the Railway ministry to provide all possible assistance.

An estimated 30 million pilgrims gathered for the holiest day of India’s Kumbh Mela, the largest religious festival in the world.

The festival began in Allahabad on January 14 and lasts for 55 days.

Millions of Indians bathe on Kumbh Mela’s holiest day in the Ganges River to wash away their sins.

More than 7,000 policemen had been deployed to oversee the Sunday bathing ritual, along with 30,000 volunteers, police say.

Source: Agencies