Haridwar: After the crush near the gate behind the Mansa Devi temple on Sunday morning, the closest crowds of the dead and seriously injured were paralyzed – not of confusion, but of fear. A rumor had spread that an electric current was running through the fallen pilgrims, and for several minutes, no one dared to touch the injured. This was not until a police constable used his stick to hurt a body, which broke hesitating, and the first rescue began.The stampede killed eight people and injured at least 45. The authorities later denied any electricity mistake on the site. But in those initial minutes, it was not the presence of danger that slowed the rescue-it was a fear.Constable Sanjay Kapoor, posted at a distance of about 30 meters from the spot, said that the crowd had started pressurizing a sharp turn in the upper street in both directions. The pressure was quickly built. Many people stumble and fell, nervous. “Suddenly shouting – someone said that there was current in the bodies, and people stopped moving,” Kapoor told TOI. “I had a stick, so I touched a young man with it on the ground. When nothing happened, we started taking out people.”With the help of nearby shopkeepers and some pilgrims, the camphor managed to transfer more than 15 people from the camphor. “Some of them were unconscious, and some were not breathing. It was a terrible scene,” he said. The injured were brought inside the temple complex before transferring the downhill for treatment.Rajendra Giri, who runs a shop near the rear gate, was among the first people to participate in the attempt. “The path was crowded. Some people tried to climb the side wall, but many people were trapped at the turn and could not move forward due to pressure from behind, “He said.” I helped take out five people with Kapoor. One was burnt on his hand and stomach, but we don’t know how. Due to that rumor, people were still afraid to touch someone. ,Once the dead and the injured were placed inside the temple, the employees of the ropeway started bringing them under the hill. On the basis, local youths waited with a motorbike to take him to the hospital. Baldev Saini said, “I took five people on my bike.” “We do not stop to ask questions. We took them as fast as we could.”
