Pictured: The moment 23 Muslims were crushed to death in stampede during Ramadan charity hand-out

The victims, who are believed to all be women, were among thousands who packed a narrow sidestreet to receive a cash gift worth just £2.36 each from a rich family.

Fearing they would be too late to receive any money, those at the back of the crowd surged forwards and pushed each other over, police said.

Desperate: The crowd surges forward and reach out for their gift

Crush hell: Almost 100 women jostle among a crowd during a stampede in Pasuruan, Indonesia's East Java province trying to grab the charity hand-out yesterday

In Indonesia, where more than 30 per cent of the population earn less than 18,000 rupiahs (£1.10) per day, the 40,000 rupiahs would be seen as a considerable gift.

‘They were afraid they wouldn’t be able to get the money,’ said national police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira.

Women were seen crying out in pain and fear as the crowd packed into a fenced area outside the family’s house in Pasuruan, East Java province.

Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had expressed his ‘regret’ over the loss of life and had blamed the organisers of the charity handout.

Ramadan horror: An Indonesian police officer and a hospital official stand near the bodies of stampede victims at a hospital in in Pasuruan. At least 23 people were3 killed in the crush

Cash handouts are a common form of charity favoured by wealthy Indonesians during the holy month.

‘It’s an annual activity from that family but there were a lot more people lining up today than in previous years,’ Pasuruan mayor Aminurrahman said.

He said there were at least 2,500 people in the alley but police put the number at around 5,000.

Muslims are supposed to abstain from eating, drinking and having sex from dawn to dusk during Ramadan.

At night they break their fast with relatively lavish family meals that often include expensive treats.

Many families are tightening their belts this Ramadan, with inflation running at above 10 per cent after a 30 per cent hike in subsidised fuel prices in May.

Indonesia is the biggest economy in south-east Asia but more than 30 per cent of its 234million people earn less than two dollars a day, and unemployment is around 8.5 per cent.

In mourning: Family members carry the body of one of the stampede victims for a funeral after the tragedy