The incident occurred in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where hundreds of devotees gathered to celebrate one of the biggest Hindu festivals, Ekadasi, dedicated to the god Vishnu, police officer KV Maheswra Reddy told the AP agency.
Preliminary investigation shows that the iron barrier holding the queue of believers in the temple broke, causing a large wave of people to enter.
The article continues below the video
How many people died in India during religious celebrations?
What caused the crowd to rush to the temple?
What are the local authorities' concerns about the victims?
Have similar incidents happened before in India?
Local government official Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar said he feared the death toll would rise. — Initially, we had reports of seven dead, but two more people died of injuries and the condition of one injured person is critical, he said.
Trampling by crowds during religious gatherings is not an uncommon occurrence in India. In July, at least six people were killed and a dozen were injured in a similar situation in northern India.
