Timeline: Deadliest stampedes

Thousands of people have died in recent years in stampedes, many of them at religious festivals. Here are some of the most deadly:

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionThere have been several stampedes in the past two decades in Mina during the Hajj pilgrimage

24 September 2015, Mina, Saudi Arabia

More than 700 people taking part in the annual Hajj pilgrimage die in a stampede near Mecca. Two million people had converged on Mina to throw stones at pillars representing the devil in the Hajj's last major rite. Some 450 people were injured.

14 October 2013, Madhya Pradesh, India

At least 115 people die in a stampede near the Ratangarh temple after panic broke out on a bridge. Hundreds of thousands had gathered for the Hindu festival of Navatri.

14 January 2011, Kerala, India

More than 102 pilgrims are crushed to death while returning from the Hindu shrine of Sabarimala. The shrine is in a remote, mountainous, area of dense forests.

22 November 2010, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

More than 375 people die in a stampede on a bridge on the Tonle Sap river during celebrations of the annual Water Festival. Prime Minister Hun Sen described the stampede as the "biggest tragedy" to hit Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge.

30 September 2008, Rajasthan, India

More than 220 people die in a stampede at the Chamunda Devi Hindu temple inside Jodhpur's famous Mehrangarh Fort.

3 August 2008, Himachal Pradesh, India

At least 140 people die in a stampede at a hilltop Hindu temple in northern India. A rain shelter on a mountain path to the Nainadevi temple collapsed in bad weather, causing panic. Dozens more pilgrims were hurt.

12 January 2006, Mina, Saudi Arabia

At least 364 die in a crush during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Officials say the stampede happened after pieces of luggage spilled from moving buses in front of one of the entrances to the bridge of Jamarat, causing pilgrims to trip.

31 August 2005, Baghdad, Iraq

Up to 1,000 Shia pilgrims are trampled to death or drown in the Tigris River after rumours of a suicide bombing sparked panic. Many of the dead are women and children.

25 January 2005, Maharashtra, India

Up to 300 Hindu pilgrims die in a stampede during a Hindu pilgrimage to the remote Mandhar Devi temple. Many pilgrims are crushed and burned to death as fires in roadside stalls force crowds into a narrow stairway leading to the hilltop temple.

1 February 2004, Mina, Saudi Arabia

Some 251 pilgrims are trampled to death in a 27-minute stampede during the Hajj. Officials say many of the victims were not authorised to participate in the Stoning of Satan ritual, after new procedures were introduced following previous stampedes.

9 May 2001, Accra, Ghana

Some 126 die at the Accra Sports Stadium after a match between rival teams Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko. The Ghanaian police are blamed by many survivors for causing the stampede by firing tear gas in the packed and locked stadium, after angry demonstrations by fans of the losing side.

9 April 1998, Mina, Saudi Arabia

At least 118 pilgrims die and more than 180 are hurt during the Stoning of Satan ritual. The pilgrims, mostly from Indonesia and Malaysia, are trampled to death after panic erupts when several people fall off an overpass.

2 July 1990, Saudi Arabia

Some 1,426 pilgrims, mostly Malaysians and Indonesians, die in a huge crush in a tunnel leading to Mecca's holy sites. The authorities say most died of asphyxiation after the tunnel's ventilation system broke down.