At least 32 people have been killed and 15 others injured in a stampede
during an important Hindu festival in India.Indian officials said the
accident occurred on Friday near a public park in the city of Patna in
the eastern Bihar State and that the fatalities were mostly women and
children.
Dussehra - a festival during which effigies of the
demon king Ravana are burnt to mark the victory of good over evil -
draws huge crowds at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna, the administrative
capital of Bihar. Continue below to see photos from the celebration and
then the stampede after the cut.
"We have information that 32 people including women and children died
due to a stampede," Police told AFP news agency. In addition to the
dead, at least 15 people were taken to hospital.
Hindu devotees watch an effigy of the Hindu demon king Ravana, stuffed with fire-crackers, burn
The effigies are filled with firecrackers which contain phosphorous - a
chemical which they believe purifies the atmosphere to combat illnesses
onset by the drop in temperate at the time of year
The festival is celebrated on the tenth day of the month of Ashwin in
the Hindu lunisolar calendar, with the previous nine days known as Maha
Navratri
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