Crowd surge kills 12, injures 15 at Hindu shrine in Kashmir

Officials said that at least 12 people were killed and 15 others were injured on Saturday following a crowd surge at a Hindu shrine in Kashmir. 

An investigation is still being conducted into the incident, but it appears based on initial reports that a group of people making their way to pay respects at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in the Katra town were involved in a dispute, which led to the crowd surge, the Associated Press reported.

Tens of thousands of people were participating in the pilgrimage that day.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “extremely saddened” after a dozen people lost their lives following the crowd surge.

“Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to JK LG Shri @manojsinha_ Ji, Ministers Shri @DrJitendraSingh Ji, @nityanandraibjp Ji and took stock of the situation,” Modi tweeted on Saturday.

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. Spoke to JK LG Shri @manojsinha_ Ji, Ministers Shri @DrJitendraSingh Ji, @nityanandraibjp Ji and took stock of the situation.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 1, 2022

Officials say that the pilgrimage began again close to four hours after the incident. Police chief Dilbag Singh said that order was restored quickly and that officials responded to the incident fast, according to the Press Trust of India news agency, per the AP.

The AP noted that several other Indian religious festivals, including two that took place in 2011 and 2013, have previously witnessed crowd surges resulting in the deaths of dozens of people due to a lack of safety measures and the sheer number of people participating in the events.