35 Worshipers Die in Crush in Mexico
About 35 worshipers were crushed to death in an Ash Wednesday ceremony today as thousands of pilgrims pushed their way into a church in central Mexico, a government official said.
“It was a human avalanche,” Dr. Rodolfo Bribiesca, head of the emergency health department of the state of Mexico, said by telephone from Chalma, about 30 miles southwest of the capital, where the church is located.
He said about 30 people were injured in the crush.
The Roman Catholic pilgrims were attending church services marking the start of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and penitence observed by many Christians from Ash Wednesday until Easter.
About 8,000 to 10,000 pilgrims were visiting Chalma for the Ash Wednesday ceremonies and many were trying to enter the town’s ancient hilltop church when the crush began, Bribiesca said.
“They started pushing forward. Some fell and were suffocated,” he said, adding that the incident occurred about 10 a.m. local time.
The church in Chalma contains a much-revered shrine of the Virgin Mary. Pilgrims flock from across Mexico to visit it for Ash Wednesday, Bribiesca said.
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