The 2011 Sabarimala stampede was a

crowd crush Crowd collapses and crushes are catastrophic incidents that can occur when a body of people becomes dangerously overcrowded. When a body of people reaches or exceeds the density of , the pressure on each individual can cause the crowd to collapse ...

(often incorrectly described as a 'human

stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...

') on 14 January 2011,

Makara Jyothi Makara ( sa, मकर) is the name of a zodiac sign in Indian languages known as Capricorn in English. "Jyoti" means "light" in Sanskrit. Thus "Makara Jyoti" (also spelt as Jyothi) means "Light of Capricorn". The Sun appears to move from one ...

Day at Pullumedu near

Sabarimala The Sabarimala Temple (; ml, ശബരിമല ക്ഷേത്രം) is a temple complex located at Sabarimala hill inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Perinad Village, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. It is one of the largest ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It broke out during an annual

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

, killing 106 pilgrims and injuring about 100 more declared later as "National disaster". The pilgrims were returning from a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

shrine on the last day of a yearly festival which attracts millions of devotees. It began after a Jeep toppled over.

Background

is a star which is worshiped by pilgrims in huge numbers at

Sabarimala Temple The Sabarimala Temple (; ml, ശബരിമല ക്ഷേത്രം) is a temple complex located at Sabarimala hill inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Perinad Village, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. It is one of the largest a ...

Makara Sankranti Makar(a) Sankranti (), also referred to as Uttarayana, Maghi, or simply Sankranti, is a Hindu observance and a festival. Usually falling on the date of January 14 annually, this occasion marks the transition of the Sun from the zodiac of Sag ...

on 14 January every year. It is believed that the deity

Ayyappan Ayyappan an incarnation of dharma sastha, also called Manikandan, is a Hindu deity popular in Southern India, He is considered to be the epitome of dharma, truth, and righteousness and is often called upon to obliterate evil. Although devotion t ...

asserts himself as Makara Jyothi to bless his devotees. The crowd crush is the worst recorded accident to have occurred in Sabarimala. In the past on 14 January 1952, 66 Ayyappa pilgrims were burnt to death when two fireworks sheds caught fire, while on the same day in 1999, 52 pilgrims were killed following a crowd crush during their return after witnessing the Makara Jyothi at Pamba. The two-month-long pilgrimage, which had started in , had been mostly incident-free before this crowd crush.

The incident

The incident happened around 8 p.m. local time. Most of the dead were from the states of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and

. There are various versions of the accident as reported in various newspapers and television reports. The victims were going back home through the forest after Makara Jyothi

darshanam ''Darsanam'' is a 1973 Indian Malayalam film, directed by P. N. Menon and produced by P. C. George. The film stars Adoor Bhasi, Supriya, Sankaradi and Raghavan in the lead roles. The film had musical score by G. Devarajan. Cast *Adoor Bhasi ...

, thought to be a celestial phenomenon on the hill shrine of the Hindu god

. The

was reportedly caused by an

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

which blocked the path, near Pullumedu, possibly after breaking down. When moved it may have overturned and caused people to stumble, triggering the stampede or by too many people running down the hill towards the road where there was already a pack of vehicles. There is a version of an accident between an autorickshaw and a Jeep. The real trigger of the incident remains a mystery given the fact that the spot where the stampede occurred is an open field.

Relief efforts

Kerala Chief Minister

V. S. Achuthanandan Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan (born 20 October 1923) is an Indian Communist politician who was the Chief Minister of Kerala from 2006 to 2011. At 82, he is the oldest person to have assumed the office. He served as the chairman of Admin ...

announced a judicial inquiry into the stampede tragedy and also announced a grant of 5,00,000 for families of each of the victims. Prime minister of India

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

offered condolences for the deaths and announced a compensation of 1,00,000 to the next of kin of the dead and 50,000 for those injured. A team of

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is an Indian specialized force constituted "for the purpose of special response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster" under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The "Apex Body for Disaster M ...

was sent to the scene.

Chief Minister

M. Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

announced 1,00,000 to the family of each victim from Tamil Nadu.

References

External links

Video:Sabarimala stampede: Over 100 pilgrims killedList of people killed
{{Disasters in India in 2011 Human stampedes in India Sabarimala stampede Sabarimala stampede History of Kerala (1947–present) Disasters in Kerala History of Pathanamthitta district Sabarimala crowd crush, 2011

Background

The incident

Relief efforts

See also

References

External links