At least 21 people were killed Monday in a stampede for free clothes during a function organised to mark a local politician's birthday in this northern Indian city, an official said.
Local administrator Aradhana Shukla told AFP that the stampede occurred when people rushed to collect free saris, a traditional Indian dress, which Lalji Tandon, a member of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's BJP party, was distributing.
"During the distribution it seems a sudden excitement grew among the crowd (and) everyone rushed to get the saris," Shukla said.
"There are 21 dead. We reached the spot and dispersed the crowd."
The dead include 19 women and two children, Shukla said after a visit to the mortuary.
Vajpayee, who was in the central Indian state of Jharkhand to address a public rally ahead of national elections, changed his schedule and arrived late in the evening at Lucknow, the constituency from which he will be seeking re-election for a fifth consecutive term.
"This is a heart-rending incident and there will be an investigation into it. It will take some time and I appeal to everyone to keep their patience," Vajpayee told the family members of the victims at a Lucknow hospital.
He announced compensation of 200,000 rupees (4,500 dollars) for families of victims who died and 50,000 rupees for those seriously injured.
The function was organised by a little-known group named the Citizen's Service Society and attended by Tandon, who is seen as Vajpayee's pointman in Lucknow, and was looking after the premier's constituency in his absence.
According to officials, about 5,000 people were crammed into the small park, which was fenced in and covered by a tent for the occasion.
Television footage showed rows of upset chairs at the venue. At the entrance was strung a cloth banner which read "Function to distribute clothes for poor women."
Clothes and shoes were seen strewn about inside the tented area of the park.
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