Death toll in Indian stampede expected to rise

Hindu devotees pray at the Sabarimala temple during the Maravilakku festival marking the final of a two-month pilgrimage to the Lord Ayyappa temple in Kerala, south India.

The number of people who died in the stampede which took place in Kerala's Idukki district in southern India Friday evening is likely to rise, as some of the injured are in critical conditions, said shrine officials Saturday.

The incident took place at Vandiperiyar late Friday seven kilometers away from the Sabarimala shrine, a mystic Hindu hill top site.

The mishap which claimed 109 lives is the third and worst mishap involving the Sabarimala pilgrims on the Makara Jyoti (divine light) day.

Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims converge at the holy shrine of Sabarimala to watch the Makar Jyoti, which is a bright flame that flickers three times on a remote hillside of Ponnambalamedu.

It is seen only once a year on the day of Jan. 14 which also marks the harvest festival of India.

Sabarimala is the famous shrine of Lord Ayyappa, widely worshipped in South India.

On Jan. 14, 1952, 66 pilgrims were burnt to death when two cracker sheds caught fire. On the same day in 1999, 52 pilgrims were killed following a stampede while they were returning after witnessing the divine light at Pampa.

Additional Director General of Police A Hemachandran told Xinhua that "the stampede occurred in a hilly area, beyond the Sabarimala police protection area. The terrain made rescue and relief operations extremely difficult."

Most of the victims belonged to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra states in southern India. The state Director General of Police and the Home Secretary are supervising the rescue, search and relief operations. Frantic search is on for missing children.