India: Stampede at spiritual leader's homage kills 18

A pre-dawn stampede in Mumbai, India's largest city, killed at least 18 people Saturday when a large crowd gathered to pay their last respects to a Muslim spiritual leader, police officials said.

At least 40 other people were injured in the stampede when mourners thronged the home of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the head of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, a sect of Shia Islam. Burhanuddin, who was due to celebrate his 103rd birthday in a few weeks, died of a heart attack at his home, a spokesman said.

Thousands of white-clad mourners had thronged the streets of Malabar Hill, an upmarket neighborhood in south Mumbai. Many were wailing and crying as they inched forward through the narrow road.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Satya Pal Singh said the stampede occurred when the gates leading to the spiritual leader's house were closed at about 1 a.m. The crowds surged forward, with many people getting crushed near the gates.

Singh acknowledged that crowd management around the home was poor and said police at the scene were badly outnumbered by the huge number of mourners.

"We didn't think the crowd would be so great," Singh said. "Also, it's an emotional occasion when police cannot take harsh measures to push back the crowd."

Tens of thousands of Dawoodi Bohra Muslims from all over India and several other countries headed to Mumbai for Burhanuddin's funeral. Across Mumbai, shops and businesses owned by Bohra Muslims were closed Saturday in homage to their leader, who was well known as a promoter of education and spiritual values in his community. 

Deadly stampedes are fairly common during India's often-chaotic religious gatherings and festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with few safety or crowd control measures.

In October, more than 110 people were killed in a stampede at a Hindu festival in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. More than 220 people were killed in a 2008 stampede at the Chamunda Devi Hindu temple inside Jodhpur's picturesque Mehrangarh Fort.

Al Jazeera and wire services