Seven dead in stampede at temple in Bihar’s Lakhisarai

At least seven devotees, all of them women, were killed and over a dozen others injured in a stampede on Monday (August 17, 2026) at Ashok Dham temple in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district. The deceased have been identified and their family members have been handed over ex-gratia of ₹4 lakh each from the government.

Three of the injured persons have been referred to Patna for specialised medical assistance. The stampede happened, according to eyewitnesses, due to lack of crowd management and rumour of an electric pole snapping leading to electricity leakage while the bamboo-reinforced barricade broke down there.

An eyewitness said two trains full of devotees reached Lakhisarai railway station meanwhile on Monday. It is considered auspicious in the Hindu month of Shrawan. The devotees, mostly women, rushed towards the temple located close to the railway station to offer sacred water to Lord Shiva. The incoming rush led to a stampede that eventually broke down the barricade while an electric pole snapped at the site.

“The incident happened at 6.40 a.m. due to a heavy rush of devotees. The barricade broke down, which triggered a sudden stampede. The district officials were present at the site to control the situation,” stated Lakhisarai District Magistrate Shailendra Kumar.

Inquiry to be done

Munger Divisional Commissioner Prem Singh Meena and Deputy Inspector General of Police Rakesh Kumar visited the Lakhisarai Sadar (Town) government hospital to meet the injured devotees. “An inquiry into the incident will be conducted and then the cause behind it will come out,” Mr. Meena told media persons.

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary expressed grief over the deaths of devotees in the stampede and unveiled ₹4 lakh ex gratia to the kin of each deceased.

“The incident at Ashok Dham in Lakhisarai is tragic and heartbreaking. It has deeply saddened me. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. Necessary instructions have been issued to the administration to ensure proper and prompt medical care for the injured. May God grant peace to the departed souls and a speedy recovery to those who have been injured,” he wrote on X.

Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, expressed sorrow over the incident and accused the NDA Government in the State of “not making proper security arrangements for devotees and crowd control, which shows their administrative misgovernance.”

Local BJP MLA from Lakhisarai and State Agriculture Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha too echoed a similar concern that there was no proper security arrangement for the devotees. “All [the facts] will come out in the probe,” he added.

Former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar too has expressed grief over the incident.

Chairman of Bihar State Board of Religious Trust, Ranbir Nandan, stated the board will launch a probe into the incident and a team will visit the place the temple soon.

President condoles loss of lives

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday (August 17) expressed her deep sorrow over the loss of lives in the stampede and extended her heartfelt condolences to the grieving families.

“The news of the deaths of devotees in the stampede in Lakhisarai district of Bihar is extremely painful. I express my deepest condolences to the grief-stricken families. I pray for the swift recovery of those who have been injured,” Ms. Murmu said in a post on X in Hindi.

Additionally read: A list of major stampedes in India

Meanwhile, all those killed in the stampede have been identified and their family members were handed over compensation of ₹4 lakh. The deceased were identified as Manmala Devi, 44; Rinku Devi, 50; Hemlata Devi, 55; Lalita Devi, 50; Savita Kumari, 35; Saroj Devi, 65; and Savitri Devi, 49. Over a dozen devotees were injured in the incident, the district administration said with three of them critically injured and have been referred to Patna for better medical assistance. All the injured were women devotees as well in the the age group of 12 to 65.

Meanwhile, the devotees kept thronging the temple and offering their prayers there.

CM announces aid

(With inputs from PTI)