Stampede at Ausaneshwar Mahadev temple in UP’s Barabanki kills two, injures 30
LUCKNOW, JUL 28 : Early morning tragedy struck Ausaneshwar Mahadev temple in Barabanki leaving two persons dead and around 30 persons, including women and children, injured in a stampede on Monday.
The tragedy took place at Ausaneshwar Mahadev Temple at around 2 am as the crowd of devotees rushed to be a part of ‘jalabhishek,’ of Lord Shiva on the third Monday of holy month of Shravan.
In fact, the tragedy occurred when an electric wire fell on the tin shed inside the temple, causing panic among the devotees who started running helter-skelter.
As per the district administration authorities, a group of monkeys jumped on a high-voltage wire. The wire broke and fell on the tin shed on the temple premises. This led to the spread of electric current, triggering fear among the crowd. Panic soon turned into a stampede.
Those who lost their lives in the tragic incident included Prashant, 22 from Mubarakpura and another unidentified devotee who died during treatment at Trivediganj Community Health Centre (CHC).
A total of 10 injured people were taken to Trivediganj CHC. Out of them, five were referred to a district hospital due to serious injuries.
Meanwhile, as soon as the incident was reported, police reached the site. Ambulances were used to shift the injured to nearby health centres in Haidargarh and Trivediganj. Those critically injured were later sent to the district hospital for advanced care.
District Magistrate Shashank Tripathi and Superintendent of Police Arpit Vijayvargiya visited the temple after the accident. They reviewed the situation and assured proper treatment for the injured. Officials confirmed that the monkey incident was the likely cause of the wire breakage.
However, the situation returned to normal within two hours. Devotees resumed their jalabhishek rituals at the temple. People were again seen queuing patiently, with the temple management and police authorities keeping a close watch.
Meanwhile, the accident brought the spotlight temple management, the safety of the devotees thronging the temple in lakhs during Sawan and other arrangements including proper crowd and power management at the temple.
-PTI
