Bihar stampede
In picture: Volunteers guide pilgrims at the Simaria Ghat in the Begusarai district of Bihar, where a stampede killed several people on Saturday, November 4, 2017.Twitter/Doordarshan News

At least three people were killed and about 10 others injured when a stampede broke out in Bihar's Begusarai district on Saturday, November 4.

The incident occurred at the Simaria Ghat, where thousands of devotees had gathered to take a holy dip in the Ganga on Kartik Purnima, reported ANI. Post the incident, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 4 lakh each for the families of the deceased.

Authorities have said that they are in the process of identifying the dead and the injured are being treated in the hospital.

Begusarai SP Aditya Kumar said that the three who died were women and probably died of suffocation. "The deceased were of very old age and perhaps died due to suffocation amid the huge crowd," the Times of India quoted Kumar as saying.

Meanwhile, the holy day is also being observed in various other parts of the country including Haridwar in Uttarakhand, Varanasi in UP, and Bhubaneshwar in Odisha to name a few.