Nine dead in crowd crush at temple in India

Nine people have died in a crowd surge at a popular Hindu temple in southern India, authorities have said.

Dozens of others were injured in the crush at the Swamy Venkateswara Temple, where thousands of devotees had gathered to mark a sacred day in the Hindu calendar.

Despite having a maximum capacity of 3,000, the crowd at the temple swelled to around 25,000 on Saturday.

According to an initial investigation, an iron grille meant to maintain the queue of worshippers at the temple broke, leading to an uncontrolled surge of people, a senior police officer said.

Senior local government official Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar said more casualties were feared.

“Initially, we had reports of seven deaths, but two more people have succumbed to their injuries, while the condition of two others is critical,” he said.

Among the dead are eight women and a child.

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Video footage on local media showed people rushing to help those who fainted in the crowd surge and were gasping for breath.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those who expressed grief in the aftermath of the incident.