Stampede at Haridwar temple failure of system: AAP

NEW DELHI: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday termed the stampede at Haridwar's Mansa Devi temple a failure of the system rather than just an accident, and demanded that accountability be fixed.

The stampede that broke out at Haridwar's Mansa Devi temple on Sunday killed at least six people and left many injured, police said. Rumour of an electric current where the stairs to the temple begin sent the devotees into a panic, leading to the stampede, Haridwar Senior Superintendent of Police Pramendra Singh Dobal told PTI Videos.

In a post in Hindi on X, Kejriwal said, "The heart-wrenching incident of a stampede at the Mansa Devi temple in the holy city of Haridwar has deeply saddened me. May god give strength to those devotees who have lost their loved ones and grant peace to the departed souls."

He added that such "horrific" incidents at religious sites expose the negligence in management.

"This is not just an accident, but a failure of the system, and accountability should be fixed," the AAP national convenor said in his post.

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia said the incident was "extremely tragic".

"Several devotees lost their lives and many others were injured in the incident. I pray to god to grant peace to the departed souls, strength to their families to bear this grief and a speedy recovery to all the injured," he said in a post in Hindi on X.