A stampede on a bridge outside a Hindu temple killed at least 89 people in India on Sunday and dozens more may have died after they leapt into the water below, police and officials said.

Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Narottam Mishra told the BBC that 89 people had been confirmed dead.

Deputy Police Inspector General D.K. Arya had earlier put the death toll at 60 but said it could rise to 100.

"More than 100 others have been injured" in the disaster in the Datia district of central Madhya Pradesh state, he added.

Arya said the stampede was triggered by rumors the bridge might collapse after being struck by a heavy vehicle around lunchtime.

Police wielding sticks had charged the crowd in an effort to contain the panic, Arya said. People retaliated by hurling stones at officers, and one officer was badly injured.

"There were rumors that the bridge could collapse after the tractor hit it," he said.

"Many people are feared to have fallen into the river and are unaccounted for."

Other police sources said that some 20,000 people were on the bridge over the River Sindh when the stampede began.

Large crowds began converging on the site from early morning, according to witnesses.

Up to 400,000 devotees were already inside or around the temple in Datia district, which is around 350 kilometers north of the state capital Bhopal, when the stampede happened.

NDTV, an Indian television network, cited sources at the scene as saying the situation was exacerbated by police charging at the crowds.

AFP - AP

(China Daily 10/14/2013 page10)