Stampede kills six in religious India festival

At least six people were killed in a stampede during a Hindu religious festival Sunday in eastern India, an official said.

The stampede took place as hundreds of thousands of people had assembled on the banks of the Buriganga river in West Bengal state, said the state’s development minister, Mantu Ram Pakhira.

The stampede occurred as people were trying to get into a crowded boat, Pakhira said. Six women were killed and seven other people were injured.

The area where the stampede occurred is about 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state.

Deadly stampedes are fairly common during Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with few safety or crowd control measures.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.