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JAKARTA, Indonesia — At least 21 Indonesians died in a small town in East Java as nearly 10,000 people gathered outside the gates of a wealthy family’s house on Monday, vying for small handouts that are an Islamic tradition during the holy month of Ramadan.

Massing under a blazing sun, some people died of heat exhaustion, while others were trampled during a chaotic push toward the front gate, hospital officials said.

Wealthy Muslim families are required to give the handouts, called zakat, before the end of Ramadan. Crowds commonly gather at the gates of private homes and government offices in the hope of receiving the aid, and often become unruly. Local hospital officials from the town of Pasuruan said they had received 21 bodies and were treating dozens of people for injuries, all of them women. No security personnel were on hand as the handouts — about $4 — unraveled. Local television footage showed elderly women, some of them carrying crying children, being shoved into the iron gate, their hands outstretched.

The owner of the house was being questioned by local police.

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