14 killed in stampede at mosque in China's north in rush for food

In this Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014 photo provided China's official Xinhnua News Agency, an injured woman receives medical treatment at a hospital in Xiji Town of Guyuan, northwest China's Ningxia region. China's Xinhua News Agency said Monday, Jan. 6, 14 people were killed in a stampede at a mosque in the country’s north and 10 other people were injured in the incident in Guyuan. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Li Ran) NO SALES (The Associated Press)

BEIJING – A stampede broke out during an event at a mosque in northern China, killing 14 people and injuring 10 others, a state news agency said Monday.

Worshippers at the Beida Mosque in Guyuan, a city in the Ningxia region, were handing out traditional cakes during an event to commemorate a religious figure Sunday afternoon when a rush for food triggered the stampede, the Xinhua News Agency said.

It quoted a witness as saying people trampled over each other.

This year's event had a record number of participants as it fell over the weekend, Tan Zongzhi, the head of Xiji county's religious affairs bureau, was quoted as saying.

A meeting of the Ningxia Communist Party committee on Monday blamed poor organization and insufficient management for the stampede, according to Xinhua.

Four of the 10 people hospitalized were in critical condition, Xinhua said.

Ningxia is the home of China's Muslim Hui ethnic minority.