Karachi, Pakistan ? A stampede at the end of a religious gathering on Sunday to mark the birth of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad left at least 29 women and children dead in southern Pakistan.

The stampede occurred as thousands of women were leaving the Sunni Muslim Faizan-e-Medina center in the port city of Karachi after listening to clerics deliver sermons, said Hanees Billu, a spokesman for the center.

Witnesses said the fatal crush happened inside the center’s compound, when a woman bent down to pick up a young girl who had fallen, causing other people behind her to trip.

Hospital officials reported 29 deaths and more than 70 injured.