I'm on vacation in Rajasthan, north India right now. It's great. Full update and pictures to come, but...
Horribly sad news. Every time there is a celebration here there seems to be a risk. We were in Jodhpur three days ago, visiting this massive old fort on a hill there - really fantastic site. This morning, on the first day of the annual Navaratri Festival (also called Durga Puja), the crowd waiting to enter one of the temples in the fort turned into a stampede as the gates were opened. Over 140 people died of suffocation, according to official reports. This follows another stampede on a hillside temple in Maharashtra a month ago, when 160 people died. The tragedy is that much more in our faces because we were JUST there.
Slightly fuller story here: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200809301502.htm
I don't mean to keep posting upsetting news on my blog, but I'm guessing that news from the east rarely makes it into the western papers.
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1 comment:
It did make it as far at the BBC at least. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/south_asia/7643373.stm
I'm glad you are safe and hopefully still enjoying your trip :)
-Phoebe
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