HARIDWAR, India, July 27, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - At least six people were crushed 
to death at a popular Hindu temple in northern India's Uttarakhand state on 
Sunday, officials said, after a massive crowd surge.

The stampede occurred on the stairway leading to the Mansa Devi temple in the 
Hindu holy city of Haridwar, on the banks of the Ganges river, and left many 
injured.

"Six dead and more than 10 injured are admitted to the hospital," senior city 
police official Parmendra Dobhal told AFP.

Uttarkhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said relief and rescue 
operations were underway.

"I am constantly in touch with the local administration regarding this matter 
and continuous monitoring of the situation is being done," he said in a 
statement.

Deadly stampedes and crowd crushes are a common occurrence at Indian 
religious festivals.

In June, a sudden crowd surge at a Hindu festival in the coastal state of 
Odisha triggered a stampede that killed at least three people and injured 
several others.

The previous month six people were crushed to death in the western state of 
Goa after thousands gathered for a popular fire-walking ritual.

And in January, at least 30 people were killed in an early morning crush at 
the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu mega-festival in the northern city of Prayagraj.