Indian temple stampede leaves 89 dead, 100 injured

In the worst incident of its kind, at least 89 people were killed while another 100 sustained critical injuries in a temple stampede on Sunday in India's central state of Madhya Pradesh, government sources said. The incident happened at Ratangarh temple located in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district, where around 450,000 pilgrims had gathered for the Durga Puja festivities. Some 25,000 of the pilgrims saw fit to cross a bridge leading to the temple instead of going through a long cue. Upon rumors that the bridge was collapsing, the people started to panic and tried to find an escape amongst the hordes of surrounding individuals, thus causing the stampede, according to sources The incident has led to protests, with people alleging that the police and law enforcing agencies did not do enough to avert the tragedy. The state government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident, with local administrative officials currently engaged in relief operations.