NEW DELHI: A stampede during a religious ceremony in central India left at least 10 people dead, an official said.

Senior police officer Rajesh Vyas said the stampede occurred early Saturday when a large number of people surged forward to gain entry into a Muslim shrine, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

Vyas said some pilgrims fell down and were crushed to death.

The shrine is near Ratlam, a town in Madhya Pradesh state nearly 480 miles southwest of New Delhi. Police in the region could not be immediately reached for details.

Deadly stampedes are relatively common at religious places in India, where large crowds gather in tiny areas with no safety measures or crowd control.