A stampede has killed at least 18 people in Mumbai when a large crowd gathered to pay their last respects to a Muslim spiritual leader, media reports say.
Forty people were also injured in the incident on Saturday which occurred shortly after 1am (0630 AEDT) at the home of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, who died aged 102 on Friday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
Burhanuddin, who was to celebrate his 103rd birthday in a few weeks, died of a heart attack at his home.
He was a leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community, a sect of Shi'ite Islam.
It was unclear what triggered the stampede but they are a frequent occurrence in India and are usually attributed by authorities to poor police crowd control.
Narendra Modi, leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party who has been vilified for deadly anti-Muslim riots in his Gujarat state in 2002, called the incident "unfortunate" on Twitter.
"Stampede near Syedna Sahib's residence is very unfortunate. Condolences to families of those who lost their lives & prayers with the injured," Modi tweeted.
The spiritual leader, who has been succeeded by his 70-year-old son, was honoured with the highest civilian titles such as the Star of Jordan and Order of the Nile by the governments of Jordan and Egypt.
