At least 14 Hindu pilgrims were killed in India after five of them were run over by a train on a bridge and the rest panicked and jumped into a river.
The incident, which occurred last night in the northern Uttar Pradesh state, led hundreds of pilgrims to go on the rampage as they set a carriage on the train of fire, damaged railway property and blocked the track for hours.
Authorities said pilgrims on the train stopped it by pulling the emergency chain as it passed over the bridge to collect water from the Saryu river, considered sacred to many.
Railway officials said five pilgrims were crushed under the wheels of another train that came along the other track on the bridge, and that rescue teams had recovered nine bodies from the river so far.
The devotees, also known as "Kanwarias", walk hundreds of miles every year to collect holy water from rivers in northern India and visit temples across the region.