Hindu Festival Fire Kills More Than 170

Fire swept through a thatched-roof hall in eastern India where thousands had gathered Sunday for a Hindu religious festival, killing 177 worshipers, authorities said.

By this morning, rescue workers using shovels and pitchforks uncovered 154 charred bodies, while another 23 people had died in the hospital, said Gobinda Chandra, a district magistrate.

He said 123 people remained hospitalized, 30 of them in critical condition.

The fire tore through a temporary hall erected for followers of the late Swami Nigamananda, a Hindu spiritual leader, who had assembled for several days of worship on the outskirts of the town of Baripada, 1,250 miles southeast of New Delhi.

The flames sent panicked worshipers running, Press Trust of India reported, quoting witnesses. Many of the victims may have died in the stampede.

The fire overwhelmed Baripada, which has only two fire trucks.

Some of the injured were lying on the road near a hospital waiting to be treated, United News reported. The hospital put some patients on its verandah after rooms filled up.

The cause of the blaze was unclear. An official investigation was ordered late Sunday.

More than 12,000 devotees of Swami Nigamananda had gathered at an area known as Madhuban grounds. The guru has been dead for many years, but his followers, mostly in eastern India, worship his memory and seek his blessing.

Organizers had built one huge hut and several other sheds with straw walls and thatched roofs to serve as meeting halls and temporary shelters. “So it all burned really fast,” Hota said.

When the fire started at 3:30 p.m., many of the devotees were napping to escape the afternoon heat, Hota said. It was unclear if all the victims were in one building.

The state’s chief minister said the state would award relatives of the deceased about $700 in compensation, and the injured about $300. The Indian government commonly compensates disaster victims.