More than 68 people died and at least 47 were injured Sunday in a stampede at a temple in northern India, local authorities said.
The pressure from the large crowd broke the iron railings leading to the Hindu temple in the state of Himachal Pradesh. When it happened, the large crowd panicked, said senior police officer K.K. Indoria.

"We think around 68 people have died," he added. As much as 3000 people were trying to enter the temple at the same time and that’s when the iron railings broke.

Numerous worshipers gather at the temple in Bilaspur district each year at an annual religious festival to pray to a Hindu goddess. Most of them came in pilgrimage from the neighboring state of Punjab. Bilaspur is about 155 miles (250 kilometers) northeast of Indian capital, New Delhi.

There were many woman and children among the dead. Many children fell to the ground and were trampled by pilgrims running to safety, officials said. Safety personnel were showed on TV carrying people on stretchers to the hospitals.

"There were a lot of people inside and we were trying to fight for space when everyone started falling over," a worshipper, Bimala, told television reporters according to Reuters.

Several other stampedes have occurred in India, a country where thousands of people gather to pray during yearly festivals. The bloodiest stampede occurred three years ago when 265 people died at a temple in the western state of Maharashtra.