After Bangalore chaos, a look back at India’s worst stampede disasters

The stampede near the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru during the RCB parade on Wednesday in celebration of the team’s maiden IPL win in 18 years has put the spotlight back on such incidents in India. Here is a list of similar tragedies that have taken place in the country in recent years:

• May 3: 6 persons died and around 100 people were injured in a stampede in the early hours during an annual festival of the Sri Lairai Devi temple at Shirgao village in Goa

• January 29: 30 people died and 60 were injured after a stampede broke out at the Sangam area of the Mahakumbh as crores of pilgrims jostled for space to take a holy dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya. Many have contested the official figure and said the toll is much higher

• January 8: 6 devotees were killed and dozens injured in a stampede as hundreds of them jostled for tickets for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam at Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple on the Tirumala Hills

• December 4, 2024: A 35-year-old woman died and a boy was injured at Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad in a stampede where Allu Arjun’s blockbuster Pushpa 2 was screened

• July 2, 2024: At least 121 people, including women and children, were killed after a stampede broke out at a satsang (prayer meeting) organised by self-styled godman Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras

• March 31, 2023: At least 36 people died when the slab constructed on top of an ancient bawdi or well collapsed during a havan held on Ram Navami at a temple in Indore

• January 1, 2022: At least 12 people died and over a dozen were injured in a stampede at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir triggered by a heavy rush of devotees

• September 29, 2017: 23 people lost their lives and 36 were injured in a stampede on the narrow bridge connecting the Elphinstone Road station of Western Railway with Parel station of Central Railway in Mumbai

• July 14, 2015: 27 pilgrims died and 20 were injured in a stampede at a major bathing spot on the banks of the Godavari where a huge crowd of devotees had gathered on the opening day of the Pushkaram festival in Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh

• October 3, 2014: 32 people were killed and 26 injured in a stampede at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, shortly after the Dussehra celebrations ended

• October 13, 2013: 115 people were killed and over 100 injured in a stampede during Navratri festivities near Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Datia district. The stampede was triggered by rumours that a river bridge the devotees were crossing was about to collapse

• November 19, 2012: 20 people were killed and many injured as a makeshift bridge caved in, triggering a stampede during the Chhath Puja at Adalat ghat on the bank of the Ganga in Patna

• November 8, 2011: 20 people were killed in a stampede in Haridwar at Har-ki-Pauri ghat on the banks of the Ganga

• January 14, 2011: 104 Sabarimala devotees were killed and over 40 were injured in a stampede when an SUV crashed into homebound pilgrims at Pulmedu in Kerala’s Idukki district

• March 4, 2010: 63 people were killed in a stampede at Ram Janki Temple of Kripalu Maharaj in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district as people gathered to collect free clothes and food from a self-styled godman

• September 30, 2008: 250 devotees were killed and over 60 injured in a stampede triggered by rumours of a bomb going off at Chamunda Devi temple in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur city

• August 3, 2008: 162 dead, 47 injured in a stampede triggered by rumours of rockslides at Naina Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district