15 killed in India after hotel blaze and Hindu temple stampede

Dubai: At least 15 people were killed in two separate disasters involving Hindu pilgrims in eastern India on Monday, with eight dying in a hotel fire in West Bengal and seven in a crowd crush at a temple in neighbouring Bihar, officials said.

The incidents occurred during Shravan, a sacred month in the Hindu calendar devoted to the worship of Lord Shiva, when temples across India draw large crowds of devotees, particularly on Mondays, Indian media reported.

In Bihar, seven pilgrims were killed and 19 others injured when a stampede broke out at the Ashok Dham temple in Lakhisarai district, where thousands had gathered for prayers.

District magistrate Shailendra Kumar said the panic began after rumours spread that an electric pole had fallen on worshippers inside the temple grounds. The sudden rush caused part of the crowd-control barricading to give way, with people falling over one another in the crush.

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary called the deaths “heart-wrenching” and announced compensation of 400,000 rupees ($4,180) for the family of each person killed.

Hours earlier, fire had swept through a four-storey hotel in Tarapith, West Bengal, a pilgrimage town in Birbhum district. The latest official reports put the death toll from the blaze at eight, with several others injured.

The fire began on the ground floor early on Monday while most guests were asleep. Many of those staying at the hotel were pilgrims who had travelled to Tarapith for religious observances. Fire crews brought the blaze under control and the injured were taken to Rampurhat Government Medical College and Hospital.

Police said 43 people were rescued from the building. Five of the eight people who died were from Meghalaya, while three were from Alipurduar in West Bengal. One person remained in hospital.

The precise cause of the blaze was under investigation. Hotel officials said they believed an electrical fault was responsible, but authorities had not established a final cause. Police were also examining whether adequate fire-safety measures were in place.

The two disasters renewed scrutiny of safety at religious sites and accommodation used by pilgrims in India, where major festivals and holy days can draw enormous crowds into relatively confined spaces.

Crowd crushes have repeatedly caused mass casualties during religious gatherings in the country. In January 2025, at least 30 people were killed when crowds surged during the Maha Kumbh festival, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings.

In one of India’s deadliest previous temple disasters, at least 115 people were killed in Madhya Pradesh in 2013 after panic spread among pilgrims who feared that a bridge was collapsing.