At least seven women were killed in a stampede at a Hindu temple in India’s eastern state of Bihar on Monday.

Police are investigating reports that an electric pole collapsed, sparking rumours of a snapped live wire electrocuting some devotees near Ashok Dham Temple in Lakhisarai district.

Thousands of devotees had come to the temple from nearby villages, many of them arriving on crowded trains, to offer prayers during one of the holiest months in the Hindu calendar for devotees of Lord Shiva.

All those killed were women after the electric pole fell on the women’s queue, officials said.

A surge of devotees intensified after two trains arrived at a halt which is within walking distance of the temple at around 6.30am, leading to the breaking of a barricade outside the temple, Lakhisarai district magistrate, Shailendra Kumar, told the media.

“The pole was located on the right side of the men's queue. When the pole collapsed, a rumour spread that a live wire had fallen on people, but it was a cable wire,” he said.

“This led to pressure on the women's queue on the left side. So, women fell on top of each other,” he said.

He said everything happened within the span of two minutes despite preparations and the presence of police and the administration.

However, several of those injured claimed they were electrocuted or saw people getting caught in the live wire.

A district police officer, Shivam Kumar, said preliminary reports suggest an electric pole fell at the site, causing electrocution and leading to the crowd crush.

He said the exact cause of the incident would be ascertained only after a thorough verification of the facts.

Vinod Kumar, a devotee who witnessed the chaos, said, people were pushing each other to make their way inside the temple after the pole snapped.

“As soon as we got down from the train, we joined the queue. Shortly after, an electric pole broke. We moved ahead and there was barricading near the gate to enter. Young people were trying to force their way in; the barricading broke. People started climbing over each other to go in,” he told Navbharat Times, Bihar.

He added that there were only one or two female police personnel who tried to manage the crowd, but the situation went out of control quickly.

A woman who was not named said around 10-12 women pushed their way in and started pushing them.

“We fell, and around 20-25 women fell on top of one another. Many fainted after getting trapped under the crowd. This happened because there was a huge rush,” she told the Indian PTI newswire.

Crowd crushes are relatively common in India during religious festivals, as large crowds, sometimes in the millions, gather in confined areas with few safety or crowd-control measures.

Last year in January, at least 30 people were killed as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to bathe in a sacred river during the Maha Kumbh festival, the world's largest religious gathering.

In July 2025, at least 120 people were killed in a crowd crush during a religious gathering in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh.