CPI condoles loss of lives in temple tragedy, says 'MP Govt. should have been better prepared'

Expressing profound condolences for those killed in the Ratangarh Temple stampede, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja on Monday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government in Madhya Pradesh should have drawn lessons from the past and taken precautionary measures to prevent such untoward incidents.

"Firstly, I on behalf of my party, the CPI, express profound condolences to the people who died there, to families who lost their kith and kin," Raja told ANI in New Delhi.

"Having said that, I must point out the fact that the Madhya Pradesh Government has not drawn enough lessons from the past stampede. If the Government of Madhya Pradesh drew some lessons, it could have made some precautionary or adequate measures not to allow such stampede to occur again and again," he added.

The Navratra festivities ended in tragedy when 110 pilgrims, including women and children, were killed and more than 100 injured in a stampede on a bridge leading to the historic Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district yesterday.

The disaster was a repeat of the 2006 stampede when more than 50 pilgrims had got washed away falling in panic into the Sindh river off the same bridge in 2006.

The stampede was triggered by rumours that the river bridge the devotees were crossing was about to collapse.

"Some people spread a rumor that the bridge was falling. Their objective was to reach the temple quickly. They were unable to go due to a massive crowd. This led to the stampede," said Deputy Inspector General Dilip Kumar Arya.

The Madhya Pradesh Government has ordered a judicial probe into the untoward incident in which more than 100 people were injured on the bridge over Sindh River near Ratangarh temple.

Survivors alleged that some people spread the rumor that the bridge was on the verge of collapse, resulting in panic.

"My mother is dead and six people from my village were also killed. People were leaving from both exits after worshipping the Goddess. Suddenly, police arrived. They began shouting that the bridge had broken and they charged the devotees with batons," said Vipul Pathak, a man who lost his mother in the incident.