India Funeral Stampede Kills 18

At least 18 people have been killed and more than 40 injured in a stampede in India’s western city of Mumbai.

Local officials say the incident happened when thousands of mourners gathered at the home of a Muslim spiritual leader who died on Friday.

Reports suggest people were crushed after the gates of the house where the body of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin were kept were closed.

The leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community died aged 102.

The community are Ismaili Shias.

The deceased leader’s funeral is expected later on Saturday.

Hundreds of people across India have died in similar tragedies in recent years.

In October, 115 people were crushed in a stampede at a Hindu festival in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

In 2011 more than 100 died at a festival in the southern state of Kerala.

Inside Jodhpur’s Mehrangarh Fort, more than 220 people were killed in 2008 in a stampede at the Chamunda Devi Hindu temple.

BBC

Posted by Editor on January 19, 2014. Filed under WORLD. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry