The death toll in Saturday night's stampede at a pilgrim centre at Pakpattan in Pakistan' eastern Punjab province has risen to forty, official sources in Islamabad said.
Over 50 others reported to have been injured when mass of devotees surged past a narrow gate at annual gathering urs of Muslim saint Farid Ganj-e-Shakar in the town of Pakpattan late on Saturday.
Reports reaching Islamabad also said that many pilgrims fainted as the atmosphere inside the shrine was hot and suffocating.
Officials said the victims included people from different parts of the country and local authorities were making arrangements to transport the bodies to their home towns.
A spokesman for the shrine, Abdul Zahir has blamed two police officials on duty for the negligence.
A judicial inquiry has been ordered to clarify the cause of the incident, an official report said.
It said that the inquiry would fix the responsibility on public functionaries as well as members of the public responsible for the tragic episode.
Thousands of people from across Pakistan assemble in Islamabad every year to pay homage to Sufi saint and poet Khawaja Sheikh Masood Fariduddin Ganj-i-Shakar, popularly known as Baba Farid, who died hundreds of years ago.
Bureau Report
