Pilgrims struggle to enter a temple premises at Sagar Islands, south of Kolkata, January 14, 2010. Seven pilgrims were killed and 14 others injured on Thursday in a stampede that occurred while they were trying to board a boat on their way to go for a holy dip to the annual Ganga Sagar Mela (fair) at Sagar Islands where the River Ganga flows into the Bay of Bengal, government officials said. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    NEW DELHI, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Seven pilgrims, including a child, were killed and at least 14 others injured in a stampede at the holy Gangasagar island in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal on Thursday, a police officer said.

    "Seven people were killed and those injured in the stampede have been admitted to a local hospital. The stampede took place as the pilgrims were boarding a jetty to Gangasagar's holy confluence in South 24 Pargans, where the Ganges river meets the sea of Bay of Bengal. The pilgrims wanted to take a dip at the confluence of the river and the sea," the official said.

    Millions of Hindu pilgrims take a pre-dawn bath in the waters at the confluence of the holy Ganges river with the sea which is said to be the world's largest religious gathering.