At least 63 people were killed and 15 others injured in a stampede on Thursday in a local ashram where nearly 10,000 people had converged for a ritual.
A woman is crying after losing her loved ones in the stampede. The tragic death of 63 people, mostly women and children, brings to light not just the pain of losing their loved ones, but the conditions that they live in.
Families mourn the tragic death, those who were crushed to death at the gates of an ashram. These poor villagers had gone to collects food and alms. Everyone has lost someone. In every home scenes of mourning can be witnessed.
A body is being lowered inside a grave. Twenty-six mothers died and 37 children also lost their lives. This really makes you wonder whether this was just a tragic accident or is this price you pay for being poor.
Villagers are digging the soil for the burial. Village after village, it's the same story. Already buried in poverty these families are now struggling to come to terms with the loss of their loved ones in the stampede.
An old man grieves over the loss of lives. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to families of those who died in ashram stampede on Thursday.
At least 63 people - nearly all of them women and children - were killed and 28 others injured in a stampede on Thursday in a local ashram after a collapse of its gate triggered panic among about 15,000 people who had converged for a ritual.
The stampede took place after the gate of Kripalu Maharaj's ashram, collapsed during distribution of food on the occasion of "Shradh" of his wife, Sub-divisional Magistrate Kunda Shyama Charan said.
The ashram is spread over nearly six hectares of land and police contingents from several adjoining areas have reached there for relief operations, he said.
