HIMACHAL PRADESH: Undeterred by the tragedy that struck in the Naina Devi temple in which 146 pilgrims were killed in a stampede, devotees continued to trek to the goddess Durga temple here tonight and offer prayers.
Though their number has come down, devotees continued to offer prayer at the temple on the second day of nine-day Navratra festival with usual fervor. Temple officials and eyewitnesses said the tragedy took place at around 9:45 am.
They said some people spread the rumor of a landslide and rolling down of boulders from nearby Naina Dhar mountain due to rains that continued from last night.
Hearing the rumors, some devotees returning from the temple started jumping over the cement railing while others rushed down the road which caused a commotion about 500 metres away from the temple.
As many as 129 out of 146 people killed in the stampede at Naina Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur district have been identified and the bodies handed over to their relatives, officials said.
"Identity of 129 deceased has been established and their bodies have been handed over to their relatives. Efforts are on to identify the remaining 17 bodies," Ropar Deputy Commissioner B Purshartha told PTI.
At least 146 devotees, including 30 children and 38 women, were killed and more than 50 injured in the stampede at the temple shrine triggered by rumors of a landslide. "The Punjab Government is providing all kind of assistance to the relatives of victims for transportation of bodies from Bhai Jaitta civil hospital here," he said.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who visited the hospital and the site of the incident, said that the state government in coordination with Himachal Pradesh authorities would improve the infrastructure at the shrine to ensure "maximum safety" of the pilgrims.
Alarmed by the Naina Devi temple stampede,Himachal Pradesh (HP) government said it would consider introducing the "Vaishnav Devi" shrine model to regulate pilgrim movement in state's major shrines.
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said, his government was looking in to the Vaishnav Devi temple model under which devotees are allowed to proceed in batches, only after being registered. Divisional Commissioner, Mandi, Ashwani Kapoor has been ordered to probe stampede at Bilaspur district in which 146 people were killed.
He has also been asked to see if the stampede was triggered by rumors, he said. Kapoor has also been asked to suggest measures to prevent similar incidents in other such shrines in the state, Dhumal said.
The Chief Minister will also hold a high-level meeting to discuss measures to scale up arrangements in all the major temples across the state which are being thronged by the devotees on the occasion of Shravan Navratra. Dhumal did not rule out hands of some anti-socials in the incident.
"Since terrorists are creating havoc in different parts of the country by planting bombs...Their involvement behind this tragedy can not be totally ruled out.
Probe will look into this aspect also," he said. On opposition Congress' demand for a judicial inquiry into the issue, he said," All inquiries are aimed at finding the truth and the Divisional Commissioner's probe will be comprehensive, hence there is no need for a judicial inquiry," he said.
This was the second such incident at the hill shrine as in 1981; as many as 53 pilgrims lost their lives after a similar stampede.
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