12 killed in stampede at Vaishno Devi shrine
JAMMU: A stampede at the 700year-old Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu early on Saturday, possibly triggered by a brawl between some young men, killed 12 people and injured 15, people aware of the matter said.
The tragic incident took place just 300metres from the Holy Cave located in the folds of the three-peaked mountain, at about 2.15am, said Ramesh Kumar, chief executive officer of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board mandated to maintain the shrine and regulate the pilgrimage to one of the most revered Hindu shrines.
Jammu and Kashmir governor Manoj Sinha has ordered an inquiry into the stampede and set up a panel headed by the Union territory’s principal secretary home Shaleen Kabra. Additional director general of police Mukesh Singh and Jammu divisional commissioner Raghav Langer will be the other members of the panel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and minister Jitendra Singh to take stock of the situation, and expressed grief over the incident. “Extremely saddened by the loss of lives due to a stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon,” PM Modi said in a tweet.
President Ram Nath Kovind
said he was very distressed to know about the stampede and offered condolences to the bereaved families. Home minister Amit Shah said he was deeply pained by the tragic accident. Defence minister Rajnath Singh said the tragedy was
“heart-wrenching”.
The circumstances that led to the stampede are still unclear.
“Preliminary information from the scene suggests there was an altercation among some young boys, and within seconds, there was a stampede situation, said director general of police Dilbag Singh.
Aditya Sharma, a pilgrim, said, according to PTI, that there was a heavy rush of devotees and some people who were sleeping on the floor got crushed.
Local shopkeepers insisted that the route to the shrine was packed with devotees, far more than could be accommodated without falling foul of the social distancing norms mandated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Video clips of the passage leading to the sanctum sanctorum, the destination of the pilgrims who spent New Year’s Eve covering the 12km-long trek from the starting point of the yatra, Ban Ganga, show dense crowds in the barricaded space.
In one clip of the situation