Four killed in temple stampede

A stampede at a Hindu temple in eastern India left at least four people dead and 24 injured today, a temple administrator said.

After waiting for several hours, the Hindu devotees tried to enter the deeply-revered 12th century Jagannath Temple in Puri for morning prayers on the concluding day of a month-long festival that attracted some 500,000 devotees, Suresh Mahapatra, the temple administrator said.

When the temple door was finally opened, it triggered a stampede, Mahapatra said.

Three died on the spot and one of the injured died later in a hospital in Puri, the temple town 40 miles southwest of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa state, he said.

The condition of two of the injured was serious, Mahapatra said.

Puri is one of the four key Hindu pilgrimage places in India.

The temple is dedicated to Jagannath, revered by Hindus as the god of universe.