At least 300 women, men and children were killed and over 200 injured on Tuesday after a stampede at Mandra Devi temple on a hill in the Satara district of Maharastra state in west-central India.

The Press Trust of India quoted Director General of Police V N Deshmukh as saying that casualty figures may go up substantially as four state transport buses full of injured people have been sent to various hospitals in the district.

He said the number was high as there were also incidents of arson around the time the stampede took place.

"People were getting impatient standing in the queue and this led to some squabbles which turned violent," Deshmukh said.

Officials said more than 150,000 pilgrims were on an annual procession to reach the popular temple, situated near Wai, about 260 km southeast of Mumbai.

Many victims were simply crushed to death and could not be immediately identified on reaching the hospitals.

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2005)