Hyderabad, India - Worshippers at a Hindu temple in southern India stampeded Thursday as they tried to draw close to a goddess' statue, trampling at least five people to death and injuring 15 others, a state official said.
Nearly 100,000 devotees had gathered at the temple honoring the goddess of valor, Durga, in Vijayawada, 170 miles east of the Andhra Pradesh state capital of Hyderabad, said state Endowments Minister Ratnakar Rao.
The stampeded was touched off as the worshippers pressed forward to put garlands on the statue, the minister told The Associated Press
Five of the injured have been hospitalized in serious condition, said Rao.
Temple rituals continued after the stampede, he said.