Stampede death toll tops 250

The death toll from a stampede at a Hindu festival in western India climbed above 250 today as police searched for the pilgrims who set fire to shops along a crowded walkway, triggering the panicked crush.

About 300,000 people had gathered for a festival yesterday, in and around the hilltop Mandra Devi temple in western India near Wai, a small town 150 miles south of Bombay.