India: 145 die in temple crush

As many as 145 pilgrims, including 30 children, have died in a stampede at a Himalayan temple in the north of India. Officials said most of the victims had died of suffocation after rumours of a landslide caused panic among the many thousands of pilgrims at the remote Naina Devi shrine in Himachal Pradesh, 90 miles from the state capital of Shimla.

The victims were celebrating Shravan Navratras, a nine-day festival that honours the Hindu goddess Shakti. Relief work was hampered by heavy rain last night, and witnesses reported seeing bodies lying in the muddy road to the temple. Stampedes have occured many times before at Indian temples.