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Stampede at Viewing of Dead Spiritual Leader Kills 18 in India Stampede at Viewing of Dead Spiritual Leader Kills 18 in India
(about 5 hours later)
JAIPUR, India — At least 18 people were killed and 46 others were injured Saturday in a stampede of mourners who were attending the viewing, in an exclusive Mumbai neighborhood, of a spiritual leader who had died Friday, Indian media reported. MUMBAI, India — At least 18 people were killed and 46 were injured in a stampede in an exclusive Mumbai enclave early Saturday morning as mourners paid their respects to a spiritual leader who died Friday.
The cause of the stampede was unclear. Thousands of people were packed into the narrow lanes near the house of the deceased, Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin, who had been a leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community, in the hope of getting a last glimpse of his body. Around 1:30 a.m., confused pushing led to the stampede, according to media accounts. Hundreds of people were packed into the narrow lanes near the house of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, a leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community, in hopes of getting a last glimpse of his body.
Deadly stampedes among religious pilgrims are known to occur in India where large crowds often gather in narrow spaces and crowd control may be lacking. Last October, 89 people in northern India were killed and hundreds more were injured when thousands of pilgrims panicked because they feared the bridge they were crossing was collapsing. One witness, Shehr Hakim, a 75-year-old businessman from Dubai, said he was part of the crowd that swelled after midnight on Friday. “Everybody became very emotional,” he said, standing outside Saifee Hospital, the pink tower that was built by the Dawoodi Bohra community in honor of Mr. Burhanuddin in 2005. “It all happened very quickly, and the crowd was hard to control,” Mr. Hakim said. “It is very unfortunate that such an incident happened at his doorstep.”
Among the dead was Amir Kalolwala, a 28-year-old management consultant from Pune. He had traveled to Mumbai late on Friday for one final viewing of the leader, said his uncle, Oni Kalolwala. When the gates were opened a little after midnight and the crowd burst in, he was separated from his father and two cousins, Mr. Kalolwala said. “Everybody started rushing to get in,” he said. “When Amir’s father came back to the spot, he was lying dead on the ground.”
On Saturday afternoon, as Mr. Burhanuddin’s body was buried next to his father’s in the Bhendi Bazaar neighborhood of central Mumbai, a group of women wept into their pastel ridas, or burqas. Out of respect, most shops in the neighborhood remained shut for the funeral procession.
Deadly stampedes among religious pilgrims are common in India, where gatherings often take place in narrow spaces and crowd control measures are poor. In October, 89 people in northern India were killed when thousands of pilgrims panicked because they thought the narrow bridge they were crossing was collapsing. Hundreds more were injured in that stampede.