In a tragic turn of events, at least 116 people, including women and children were killed and many more injured in a stampede that took place at a 'satsang' in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras on Tuesday.
Reportedly, most of the deceased were elderly people, women, and children.
Why the stampede occurred
The congregation saw a large number of devotees present. A stampede occurred at the end of the event when hundreds of devotees tried to leave the venue together. As per a document reviewed by Reuters, around 2,50,000 people had gathered for the event while the police only gave permission for 80,000.
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said that the stampede took place when devotees began pushing towards the stage after the event to touch the feet of Bhole Baba - the preacher who was coming down from the stage, the agency reported.
Reportedly, the hall where they had assembled was small and the exit was too narrow also to allow many people to leave together. Further, the venue was hot too with reports that many had already fainted due to the heat.
Some reports also claimed that organisers had closed on the of exits to let Bhole Baba's cavalcade leave, which put pressure on the other exit.
Meanwhile, UP Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh told PTI "overcrowding is one of the reasons (behind the stampede). There was a race among people who were running after his (Bhole Baba's) vehicle. It has also been learnt that people collect soil from there (the path where the baba walked) and worship it. As a result, people started bending down and fell."
He blamed a lapse on the part of the organisers for the sad turn of events.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sadness over the event and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased, and said the injured would receive Rs 50,000. CM Adityanath is likely to visit Hathras today.
Published 03 July 2024, 04:07 IST