Colombo:
Buddhists were urged by authorities to stay away from seeing a sacred tooth in Sri Lanka after four people died and hundreds fell sick while waiting in lengthy queues.
The queues in Kandy were already 10 kilometers long as worshippers waited to see the relic believed to be a tooth of the Buddha, with the special showing ending on Sunday.
Officials estimated that there were around 450,000 people in queues on Thursday morning, double the expected daily number of 200,000.
“At the rate the queue is moving, even those already in line this morning may not be able to enter the temple,” Deputy Inspector General Pathinayake said. “We appeal to the people not to come to Kandy.”
More than 300 people were admitted to the city’s main hospital after falling ill from cramped conditions, with four people, including an older woman, pronounced dead on admission.
Over 2,000 people who fainted while standing in line were treated at mobile health units, with concerns raised about sanitation and the risk of a stampede.
The railway department suspended all additional trains to the city due to the overwhelming number of pilgrims, and police commandos were deployed to move thousands away from a bridge at risk of collapse.
32 buses were turned away due to a lack of parking space, with the relic attracting more visitors than expected over the 10-day exhibition.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
