Lucknow: Tragedy struck in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's constituency today (Apr 12, 2004) when 21 poor women were killed and several injured in a stampede that broke out during distribution of sarees on the occasion of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lalji Tandon's birthday.

Cutting short his election campaign in Jharkhand, Vajpayee is rushing to Lucknow to have a first hand assessment of the tragedy that occurred around 14.30 hrs (IST) at Chandrashekhar Azad park where nearly 10,000 women, many carrying their infants and children, had gathered to collect sarees.

Lucknow commissioner D C Lakha has been asked by Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to conduct an inquiry into the stampede.

Senior superintendent of police Rajiv Ranjan Verma, who along with the district magistrate Aradhana Sharma visited various hospitals where the injured were admitted, said 21 women died in the incident.