Mandhardevi temple reopens

The Mandhardevi temple in Wai in Satara district of Maharashtra, where over 250 people died in a stampede on Tuesday, reopened for devotees on Thursday.

The temple reopened after its premises was cleaned up and a special prayer offered for the victims.

Wai's Sub Divisional Magistrate B S Pharad said: "The Satara district superintendent of police and I visited the temple today. We found the temple closed and ordered it to be opened."

Also read: 'The dead and the injured were lying in heaps'

He said the temple trustees had closed the temple after the stampede and subsequent violence.

Asked if the death toll would go up, Pharhad said there were reports from neighbbouring districts about people having taken bodies of their relatives to their villages without police verification. "If their claims are accepted then the death toll can go up," he said.

Also read: Temple tragedy: There were two stampedes