At least 63 people, including women and children, were killed and some 25 others injured in a stampede at a temple in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh Thursday, a senior police official said.

"The stampede took place at Kripalu Maharaj Ashram in Pratapgarh, some 60 km from the holy town of Allahabad when a gate of the temple collapsed during an eating session. Latest estimates show that 63 people were dead and 25 injured in the stampede in the temple where 10,000 devotees gathered for a religious ritual," the official said.

A probe has been ordered into the incident and senior administration officials have rushed to the spot, he said.

A similar stampede at the Hindu temple of Naina Devi, which occurred on August 3, 2008 in Himachal Pradesh, claimed the lives of 160 people. In September 2008, 150 dead at Chamunda Devi temple in the city of Jodhpur.

In October 2007, 12 people were killed in a stampede in the Mahakali temple in Ahmedabad. In January 2005, 300 Hindu pilgrims die in a stampede during a pilgrimage to the Mandhar Devi temple in Maharashtra and in August 2003, 39 pilgrims killed, 125 injured in a stampede at Kumbh Mela in Nasik.

Some of the injured were reported to be in critical condition and had been rushed to the nearest city for medical treatment.