New Delhi  - At least six worshippers were killed and 20 injured in a stampede during a popular Hindu festival in India's eastern state of Orissa on Friday, news reports said.

The devotees, most of them elderly persons, died when a crowd of pilgrims rushed toward the statue of a goddess in a procession outside the Jagannath temple in Puri town, the NDTV network reported.

The news channel quoted police officials as saying a huge crowd of worshippers pushed forward to touch the statue of the goddess Subhadra that was being carried in a chariot.

Three men and an equal number of women died in the stampede. The injured were rushed to local hospitals for medical treatment.

About a million devotees had gathered in the town to see the idols in the religious procession known as Rath Yatra, which is held annually. (dpa)