STAMPEDE KILLS 24 AT RELIGIOUS GATHERING

VARANASI: A stampede at a religious gathering in northern India killed at least 24 people on Saturday as thousands of devotees of a controversial guru tried to cross a bridge at once, police said. The followers of Jai Gurudev, a leader of a local religious sect, had gathered on the outskirts of Varanasi, a Hindu holy town in Uttar Pradesh state, when the deadly stampede broke out. “Nineteen of the dead are women,” police inspectorgeneral Hari Ram Sharma said. At least 20 others were injured. – AFP