At least 12 devotees were killed and 15 others injured in a major early morning stampede at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra in Jammu’s Reasi district on Saturday.
The incident took place at around 2.45 a.m., when a large number of devotees was queuing up for darshan at the sanctum sanctorum inside the cave shrine on Trikuta hills on the first day of the new year.
“Preliminary reports suggested that an argument broke out [between devotees] which resulted in people pushing each other, followed by a stampede,” Jammu & Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said.
Among the deceased were seven pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh, three from Delhi, one from Haryana and one from J&K, officials said.
Bodies of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine stampede victims being taken to a Community Health Centre at Katra, in Reasi district, Saturday morning, January 1, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTIq
Fifteen injured pilgrims were shifted to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Super Specialty Hospital in a rescue operation. “Four seriously injured patients were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Their condition is being monitored periodically,” J.P. Singh, a senior doctor at the hospital, said.
J&K Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha, who announced ex gratia of ₹10 lakh to the family of the deceased and ₹2 lakh to those injured, ordered an inquiry into the incident. The inquiry will be headed by J&K Principal Secretary- Home.
Meanwhile, scores of pilgrims and political activists held protests at Katra and accused the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board of “mismanagement” and “poor deployment of policemen to regulate pilgrims”. Activists raised slogans against the Shrine Board.
“The Shrine Board allowed more pilgrims than the allotted numbers. If ten persons were to be permitted, around 100 were allowed. This was bound to happen. Moreover, the police resorted to lathi charge,” Ashwani Sharma, who is with the Shiv Sena in Katra, said.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), visited the shrine to take stock of the situation. “We are exploring the possible use of technology to avoid such incidents in the future,” Mr. Singh said.
J&K’s regional parties extended condolences to the grieving families.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and Mr. Sinha also expressed their condolences.
“Extremely saddened by the loss of lives due to a stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan,” the PM, who was in touch with the J&K administration and was monitoring the situation, said in a tweet. The PMO also announced an amount of ₹2 lakh each from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
“The tragedy due to a stampede at Mata Vaishno Bhawan is heart-wrenching. Anguished by the loss of lives due to it. My condolences to the bereaved families in this sad hour. Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured,” Home Minister Amit Shah said in a tweet.