121 killed in stampede at Hindu religious event in northern India
Police report says 250,000 people, mostly women, attended, though permission was only given for 80,000; authorities investigating
The death toll from a stampede at a Hindu religious congregation in northern India has risen to 121, news agency ANI reported on Wednesday, where a police report said the number of people present was more than triple the permitted capacity.
The stampede on Tuesday was at the religious event in a village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh state, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) southeast of New Delhi, where police had given permission for 80,000 people to gather, according to the document, the first information report.
Around 250,000 people attended the event, according to the police report reviewed by Reuters.
At least 121 people were killed and 28 were injured, ANI news agency reported, citing local officials.
The victims included 108 women and seven children, Manoj Kumar Singh, Uttar Pradesh state’s chief secretary, told reporters.
The document described a scene of utter chaos when the preacher at the congregation, Surajpal, also known as Bhole Baba, was leaving in his car.
Shocked and saddened to hear of the unfolding tragedy at a satsang in Hathras. 122 devotees dead, many more seriously injured. My sincere condolences. Terrible news. pic.twitter.com/TX2R6IWvJ0
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) July 2, 2024
Thousands of devotees shouted and ran toward the car, crushing others still sitting in the gathering, according to the document. Some people also fell into an adjacent field of slush and mud and were trampled there.
Local media said the event was organized by a group of devotees, but did not identify anyone. ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake, said police were trying to ascertain the whereabouts of the preacher.
Police officials in Hathras were not immediately available for comment.
The devotees at the event included Kamla, who said she had been attending the preacher’s gatherings for two decades.
“I went to attend satsang (religious meet) with my 16-year old daughter and a stampede broke out around 2 in the afternoon,” she told ANI.
Although both of them were injured, her daughter succumbed in hospital, she said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences to the families of the dead and said the federal government was working with state authorities to ensure the injured received help.
Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, called the stampede “heart-wrenching” in a post on X. He said authorities were investigating.
“Look what happened and how many people have lost their lives. Will anyone be accountable?” Rajesh Kumar Jha, a member of parliament, told reporters. He said the stampede was a failure by the state and federal governments to manage large crowds, adding that “people will keep on dying” if authorities do not take safety protocols seriously enough.
In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in central Madhya Pradesh state trampled each other amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river.
In 2011, more than 100 Hindu devotees died in a crush at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.