Patna, Aug 17 (HS): At least seven devotees were killed and around a dozen others seriously injured in a stampede near the famous Ashok Dham temple in Bihar's Lakhisarai district on Monday morning, officials said. Most of the victims were women.

The stampede was allegedly triggered after a cemented electricity pole carrying a supply cable broke and fell near devotees waiting in a queue, sparking rumours that people were being electrocuted. Panic spread among the pilgrims, who ran in different directions.

The incident occurred around 6.40 am on the earthen road leading to the temple, as two trainloads of pilgrims arrived at Lakhisarai railway station, adding to the rush at the Shiva temple on the third Monday of the auspicious month of Sawan.

Lakhisarai Sub-Divisional Police Officer Shivam Kumar said the electricity pole fell near the area where women were standing in a queue to enter the temple.

As devotees ran towards open fields and farmland on either side of the road, some slipped on the wet ground following rains and fell, after which they were trampled by other pilgrims, the official said.

Seven women were killed in the incident, he said.

So far, four of the deceased have been identified as Hemlata Devi, Rinku Devi, Manmala Devi and Madhubala Devi.

Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary expressed grief over the incident and directed the administration to ensure immediate and adequate treatment for the injured.

“May God grant peace to the departed soul and speedy recovery to the injured,” Choudhary said in a post on X.

Senior administrative officials, including Lakhisarai District Magistrate Shailendra Kumar and Superintendent of Police Prerna Kumar, were present at the spot, officials said.

The Ashok Dham temple had earlier witnessed a stampede in 2019, in which one person was killed and several others injured.

On March 31 this year, nine people were killed and several others injured in a stampede at the Sheetla Mata Temple at Maghra in Biharsharif in Nalanda district.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar