At least 30 pilgrims were injured on Tuesday due to a minor stampede as a result of the heavy rush of pilgrims at the Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala, Kottayam district of Kerala.
Initial reports suggest at least 15 of them have been admitted to a hospital of which one includes a 8 year old child. The child is reported to have a sharp object pierced through his legs. No severe injuries or deaths have been reported.
"There were hundreds of people around us and we were being pushed in all sides," a woman who was injured in the stampede told Asianet News.
The shrine of Lord Ayyappa atop a hill usually witnesses a higher number of footfalls at this time of the year.
Earlier in January, 2011 more than 100 pilgrims had died and another 50 were reported injured when a jeep crashed into a group of pilgrims’ returning from the shrine.