JODHPUR: A stampede caused by rushing devotees crushed over 150 people to death and injured 60 others in the famous Chamunda Devi temple in a 15th century fort here on the first day of Navaratri festival. In a virtual repeat of the Naina Devi temple stampede in Himachal Pradesh on August 3, in which 162 people were killed, as many as 150 devotees, mostly men, died when they were trampled upon by other pilgrims as doors of the temple opened for worship.

There was a scramble on the narrow two-km path for gaining entry to the hillock shrine in the Mehrangarh Fort run by the family of erstwhile ruler Gaj Singh. The casualties occurred in the queue meant for men. The queue for women and children was unaffected, officials said. "At least 140 people have been killed and 60 others are injured. Some of the injured are in a serious condition," Divisional Commissioner, Jodhpur, Kiran Soni Gupta said.

As some devotees slipped on the 75-metre slope on the temple path, others gathered there started falling on each other causing the stampede. "A majority of those killed died due to suffocation as a result of the stampede," Principal Secretary (Home) S N Thanvi said in Jaipur. About 15 to 20 people were killed at the stop and the others succumbed to their injuries in Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, Mathura Das Hospital and Sun City Hospital, among others, here, officials said. The dead include a large number of young people, they said.

The devotees in large numbers, including women, had gathered at the temple from early in the morning on the occasion of Navaratri festival. Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said sufficient police deployment had been ensured and there were separate queues for men and women. But there was a huge rush in the queue for men and some people slipped on a slope which led to the stampede, Kataria said.

Officials said the situation went out of control as devotees, carrying offerings, jostled with each other and tried to rush towards the temple doors breaking the barricades. Inquiry ordered Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has ordered an inquiry into the Chamunda Devi temple stampede and announced a compensation of Rs two lakh each for the next of the kin of those killed.

Raje, who visited the spot in the precincts of Mehrangarh fort, said the probe will be carried out by an officer in the rank of additional chief secretary. She said Rs 50,000 will be paid to the injured.