Overview
- The crush at the Sheetla Mata temple in Maghra village, Nalanda, unfolded Tuesday morning during the last Tuesday of Chaitra, when crowds swelled for prayers.
- Officials confirmed at least eight deaths, mostly women, with more than a dozen taken to Bihar Sharif Sadar Hospital as casualty counts varied across reports.
- Police registered a case naming about 40 people, arrested four temple committee members, and suspended the Deepnagar station chief over alleged crowd-control lapses.
- The Bihar police chief ordered a security audit of religious sites statewide to check entry and exit gates, queuing plans, and holding areas for big gatherings.
- Eyewitnesses cited broken barricades, thin police presence, and panic in the packed, one-room temple, while officials also noted heat and dehydration as possible triggers; the PM and CM announced ex-gratia payments for the dead and injured.