HARIDWAR: Moments after the crush near the rear gate of the Mansa Devi temple on Sunday morning, the crowd nearest to the dead and severely injured stood paralysed – not from confusion, but from fear. A rumour had spread that an electric current was running through the fallen pilgrims, and for several minutes, no one dared to touch the injured. It wasn’t until a police constable used his stick to prod a body that the hesitation broke, and the first rescues began.The stampede left eight people dead and at least 45 injured. Officials later ruled out any electric fault at the site. But in those early minutes, it wasn’t the presence of danger that slowed the rescue-it was the fear of it.Constable Sanjay Kapoor, stationed around 30 metres from the spot, said the crowd had begun pressing in both directions at a sharp bend in the uphill lane. The pressure built quickly. Several people stumbled and fell, triggering panic. “Suddenly there was shouting – someone said there was current in the bodies, and people stopped moving,” Kapoor told TOI. “I had a stick, so I touched a young man on the ground with it. When nothing happened, we started pulling people out.”With help from nearby shopkeepers and a few pilgrims, Kapoor managed to move more than 15 people from the crush. “Some of them were unconscious, and a few weren’t breathing. It was a horrific scene,” he said. The injured were brought inside the temple compound before being shifted downhill for treatment.Rajendra Giri, who runs a shop near the rear gate, was among the first to join the effort. “The path was overcrowded. Some people tried to climb the side wall, but many were stuck at the bend and couldn’t move because of the pressure from behind,” he said. “I helped pull out five people with Kapoor. One had burns on his hand and stomach, but we don’t know how. People were still afraid to touch anyone because of that rumour.”Once the dead and the injured were laid out inside the temple, ropeway staff began bringing them down the hill. At the base, local youths waited with motorbikes to transport them to hospital. “I carried five people on my bike,” said Baldev Saini. “We didn’t stop to ask questions. We just took them as fast as we could.”