At least 32 people die in stampede during religious festival in India

An Injured woman is carried on a stretcher to a hospital for treatment in Patna, India, Friday, Oct. 3, 2014. Officials say at least 25 died in a stampede during the religious festival of Dussehra in eastern India. (AP Photo/Aftab Alam Siddiqui) (The Associated Press)

Footwear is scattered as Indians look at the stampede site in Patna, India, Friday, Oct. 3, 2014. Several people were killed Friday in a stampede in eastern India triggered by rumors that an electrical wire had fallen on people during a religious festival, an official said. (AP Photo/Press Trust of India) INDIA OUT (The Associated Press)

An unidentified woman carries the body of a boy killed in a stampede during Dussehra festival celebrations in Patna, India, Friday, Oct. 3, 2014. Atleast 32 people were killed and several injured in the stampede, according to Press Trust of India. (AP Photo/Aftab Alam Siddiqui) (The Associated Press)

At least 32 people were killed Friday in a stampede in eastern India triggered by rumors that an electrical wire had fallen on people during a religious festival, an official said.

State administrator Aamir Subhani said the stampede occurred in Patna, the capital of Bihar state, as thousands of people were returning home after attending the major Hindu festival, Dussehra.

The festival celebrates the defeat of the demon Ravana at the hands of Lord Rama, marking the triumph of good over evil.

Twenty-seven of the dead were women, said Manoj Kumar, a district official in Patna.

Kumar said 15 people who were injured in the stampede had been hospitalized.

Deadly stampedes are fairly common during Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with few safety or crowd control measures.

In October 2013, a stampede in Madhya Pradesh state in central India killed more than 110 people, mostly women and children.