“People started falling on each other, on top of each other. Many were crushed to death,” witness Shakuntala Devi told the Press Trust of India news agency. More than 100 people died in a stampede at a religious event in India this Tuesday , Most of the victims in Uttar Pradesh state are women and children, according to a report from local officials. The incident occurred during a mass gathering in the town of Hathras, 200 kilometers from New Delhi. Bodies piled up in the area. A local official raised the death toll to 107 and said dozens of people were being treated in nearby hospitals.
The attendees had attended an event organised by a religious figure, Narayan Sakar Hari, also known as Bhole Baba. Apparently, attendance forecasts were exceeded, according to what a member of the organisation told the India Today Network.
Fatal stampedes are relatively common during religious festivals in India, where large crowds gather in small areas with poor infrastructure and few security measures. Initial police reports put the number of people scheduled for the event at 15,000. Organisers had permission to host about 5,000.
The reason for the panic is still unknown. Local authorities believe that heat and suffocation in the tents may have been the cause. An eyewitness from a nearby town said, “After Baba left we tried to get out of there, but there was a muddy ditch and some people slipped while others walked on it and some fell.”
Videos spread on social networks show bodies piled up on the ground next to a hospital centre. According to Hathras district administrator Ashish Kumar, when the attendees started leaving the venue, there was overcrowding. “There was wet mud there and people slipped. Also, due to the heat, many people might have gone towards the watery spot, which could have also led to this incident,” a senior official said.
The India Today Network reported testimony from several people present at the event: “As we were trying to get out through an open field, there was a stampede and we did not know what to do. People started falling into the drain underneath the road. “They were crushed.”
Relatives wept as the victims’ bodies were carried on stretchers and covered with white sheets, lined up in front of a local hospital. A bus arrived to take the bodies away.
“Heartbreaking” incident
Uttar Pradesh is India’s most populous state with more than 200 million inhabitants. Its Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath defined the tragedy as “heartbreaking”, ordered the formation of a commission to investigate what happened and expressed his condolences to the public. The country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased with an aid of 200,000 rupees (more than 2,200 euros).
In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in the central state of Madhya Pradesh crushed each other over fears a bridge would collapse. At least 115 people were crushed to death in a river. In 2011, more than 100 devotees were crushed to death during a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.
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