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2008 Naina Devi temple stampede

Stampede which took place in Himachal Pradesh

Field	Value
name	Naina Devi stampede
date	3 August 2008
time	15:00 IST
place	Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh

notes	Stampede, crushed to death, asphyxiation
casualties1	146 dead
casualties2	150 injured

The 2008 Naina Devi temple stampede occurred on 3 August 2008 in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. 146 people died and 150 were injured when they were crushed, trampled, or forced over the side of a ravine by the movement of a large panicking crowd. Witness accounts suggest that events were initiated after a rain shelter collapsed, which worshipers mistakenly took to be a landslide. There were as many as 3000 devotees at the temple because it was a sacred place (called a "Shakti pitha") in the holy month of Shraavana of the Hindu Calendar.

The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Prem Kumar Dhumal, announced a government compensation of Rs. 100,000 (approximately US$2500) for those who died and Rs. 50,000 (approximately US$1250) for the seriously injured. 50,000 people had been expected to attend Naina Devi during the day of the stampede, as part of a nine-day festival which had just started. The pilgrimage resumed on the next day, 4 August 2008.

Gaurav Singh Saini, a 13-year-old boy from Tohana (a town located near Haryana-Punjab border) Haryana, saved 50-60 people during the stampede, and received the Bharat Award, the highest award at the 2009 National Bravery Awards.

Stampede

Devotees standing in a queue initially saw the collapse of a rain shelter. This triggered a false cry of "landslide!" as it was raining on the day of the stampede.

Reaction

The Naina Devi guard rail was much like this one.

Rajnath Singh, the current leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in India, responded to the stampede by releasing a statement in the hours after the disaster. "I am deeply saddened to learn about the tragic death of over 100 pilgrims. I convey my deep felt condolences to the family members of all those who have lost their lives or have been injured in the incident," he said.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal responded by announcing an inquiry into the incident.

The Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari, and the Speaker of Lok Sabha, Somnath Chatterjee, conveyed condolences to the families of those killed and injured in the incident.

The Tribune criticized the poor infrastructure and ill-maintained roads at the shrine, reporting that a team of doctors and paramedics were unable to reach the site of the accident until hours after the stampede. The Times of India observed that there had been no improvement in crowd management even though a similar stampede took place in the shrine in 1978 after rumors of a landslide spread, killing 65 people. As is often the case during disasters, the mobile telephone network around Naina Devi had insufficient capacity to serve the large number of phone calls by worried relatives.

Post-mortem report of victims

Post-mortem examinations conducted on victims of the Naina Devi temple stampede confirmed that the deaths were caused by asphyxiation. Post-mortem reports of 101 bodies out of a total of 141 victims taken to the civil hospital at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, 18 km from the site, have indicated compression of the chest causing asphyxiation and death, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) P C Akela said. Akela, who remained stationed at Anandpur Sahib after the incident, said post-mortems were not carried out on 40 of the dead at the request of their relatives.

References

(3 August 2008). "146 die in Naina Devi stampede". [[The Tribune (India)]].
(2008-08-03). "'Scores killed' in India stampede". BBC News Online.
(15 October 2013). "Madhya Pradesh temple stampede: 27 of 29 stampedes in country in last five years at religious places". Diligent Media Corporation.
Page, Jeremy. (September 2024). "More than 100 die in Indian temple stampede". Times Online.
Sahib, Anandpur. (September 2016). "Stampede at Naina Devi Mandir, 125 feared killed". Himvani.
(18 January 2010). "21 children to get National Bravery Awards for 2009". [[Press Trust of India]] (PTI).
(2008-08-03). "BJP expresses shock over death of pilgrims in HP". The Hindu.
Jagota, Satish. "HP CM orders magistrial inquiry into Naina Devi stampede". Punjab Newsline.
(2008-08-03). "Vice President expresses shock over loss of lives at stampede". [[The Times of India]].
"Political reactions". NDTV.
Khanna, Mohit. "It was a tragedy waiting to happen". [[The Tribune(Chandigarh)]].
Bodh, Anand. (4 August 2008). "30 years ago, similar tragedy at shrine had claimed 65 lives". [[The Times of India]].
Mann, Megha. (2008-08-03). "Panicky relatives face mobile network jam". Tribune News Service.
(2008-08-06). "Asphyxiation cause of deaths in temple stampede". The Hindu.

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