New Delhi, March 28 – At least 10 Hindu pilgrims were killed and 50 others injured in a stampede during the annual Ashtami Snan on the banks of the Brahmaputra river outside Dhaka on Friday.
Thousands of pilgrims had converged at the river for a ritual bath when the stampede occurred, police said, adding that seven women and three men were confirmed dead. “We are investigating what triggered the stampede, but it seems that the tragedy was due to an unusually high number of pilgrims, ” a police officer said.
The Snan attracts nearly one million pilgrims from Bangladesh and abroad to the river. But the local administration said the number was higher this year because the festival fell during public holidays to mark Bangladesh’s national day. Hindus account for nearly 10 per cent of Bangladesh’s 160 million people.
-INDIA TODAY
