Kathmandu, Nov 2 (Inditop.com) An Indian pilgrim was among the two people killed while nearly two dozen were injured in a stampede in southern Nepal Monday during a Hindu religious festival.
Laxman Shah from Supaul district in India’s Bihar state, said to be in his 50s, was crushed to death while a pilgrim in his 70s, Dev Narayan Yadav from Saptari district in Nepal, drowned after the wooden bridge over a river collapsed due to overcrowding, police said.
At least 23 people received injuries during the stampede in the Haribodhini Fair in Sunsari district in the Terai plains.
Nearly 300,000 Hindu devotees from the Terai as well as Indian states across the border have been gathering at Sunsari to attend the five-day fair.
However, they alleged to the media that only around 50 policemen had been deployed in the area.
The stampede occurred when dozens of people climbed on the bridge, causing it to collapse.
Shah died in the stampede as panic-stricken people trampled over others to reach safety.
Two months ago, 24 people died in a church collapse in the same district, including an Indian from West Bengal.
Hundreds of Christians from Nepal and India had gathered at the Zion Prayer Hall in Sunsari for an annual get-together and the makeshift three-storeyed bamboo structure built to accommodate them collapsed at night.
Nita Rai, an Indian from Siliguri town, was among those who were killed.
