Modi condoles Jharkhand stampede deaths

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths in the stampede that took place in Jharkhand on Monday, killing at least 11 people.

"Pained at loss of lives due to the stampede in Jharkhand. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased in this hour of grief. I pray that the injured recover quickly," Modi said on Twitter.

"I spoke to Chief Minister Raghubar Das on the incident."

At least 11 people were killed and 50 injured in a stampede in Jharkhand's Deoghar town early Monday. According to police, more than 100,000 people were in a queue, many waiting since Sunday night to get into the famous Baidyanath Temple, when the stampede occurred.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh also took to twitter and said: "My heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the stampede at Deoghar in Jharkhand. I pray for speedy recovery of the injured."

"I spoke to CM Jharkhand Shri Raghubar Das who apprised me of the situation in Deoghar post the stampede & he asked for extra RAF deployment," he said.

The minister said that one extra Rapid Action Force (RAF) battalion will be sent to Deoghar for "better crowd and security management".

(IANS)