Inquiry launched after scores die in a stampede at an Indian temple

An investigation is underway following the deaths of at least 145 people in a stampede at a Hindu temple in Northern India.

Visitors have gathered outside local hospitals to wait for news of their relatives, and to find out if they were caught up in the deadly panic.

Many of the victims were women and children.

Thousands of worshippers come every year to the Nainedevi temple in the state of Himachal Pradesh for a festival of prayer to a Hindu goddess.

Trouble started when roadside railings gave way. Some people thought it was a landslide, and scrambled back down the hillside.

Survivors said the children were the first to fall as people pushed past them. They were trampled to death by the crowds behind them.

Many of the visitors to the shrine are believed to be from the neighbouring state of Punjab.

Copyright © 2012 euronews