Reuters
A crowd has gathered outside the emergency department at Eta Hospital.
New Delhi
CNN
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More than 100 people, mostly women and children, were killed when a crowd erupted at a religious gathering in northern India on Tuesday, one of the country’s deadliest such incidents in recent years.
Police are investigating organisers, saying 250,000 people had arrived at the event when only 80,000 were expected, and that only 40 police officers were deployed.
Investigators are pursuing a self-proclaimed godman, Bole Baba, who led the attack. The tragedy took place during a satsang, or prayer meeting, in the village of Mughal Garhi in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. The village is in Hathras district, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of the capital, New Delhi.
Manoj Kumar Singh, general secretary of Uttar Pradesh state, told reporters that at least 116 people, including 108 women and seven children, were killed in the stampede as people rushed to touch Bole Baba’s feet.
Some 72 bodies have been identified so far, local health authorities said, while dozens of injured people are being treated at nearby hospitals.
Local authorities suggested overcrowding was the cause.
An estimated 80,000 people were expected to attend the event, where Bhole Baba would preach, but “a much larger crowd turned out,” Singh said.
Police have been searching for Bole Baba since the fatal incident and have charged the event organizers with manslaughter not amounting to murder, wrongful imprisonment, disappearance of evidence and providing false information, according to a police report seen by CNN.
According to reports, permission was sought for the event to attract 80,000 participants, but more than 250,000 devotees showed up.
Organizers and officials tried to direct the crowd as thousands tried to flee, and dozens were trampled in the ensuing chaos, the report added. The report alleges that event organizers did not provide any assistance to the injured and tried to cover up the incident by hiding clothes and shoes lost by people in the crush in a nearby field.
Agra Deputy Commissioner of Police Anupam Kulshreshtha told reporters that around 40 police personnel had been deployed for security at the event.
Singh said the deadly scene unfolded after the event ended when Bole Baba’s devotees rushed towards the stage to touch his feet, painting a chaotic scene where people piled on top of each other and started falling into a nearby open sewer.
He accused the organizers of failing to comply with a list of requirements given to them by the district. Local officials said a high-level investigation has been launched to look into the circumstances surrounding the incident and that a police report will be filed against the event organizers for allegedly exceeding the permitted number of attendees.
“There was serious negligence on the part of the organisers. Severe punishment will be imposed on the organisers,” he said.
Survivors described the horrific incident shortly after it happened: “People started falling one by one. Those who were crushed died. People who were there rescued them,” Shakuntala Devi told the Indian News Agency, according to the Associated Press.
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Medical treatment is on for the injured and arrangements are being made for post-mortem examinations at various locations, said Shalabh Mathur, superintendent of the neighbouring Ambala Range district.
Video footage shared by Reuters showed crowds gathering outside the local hospital in the nearby Etah district, with distraught family members crying for the victims, and medical workers carrying people away on stretchers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences in a speech in the Lower House of the Indian Parliament.
Prime Minister Modi said his government was carrying out “relief and relief operations” and was coordinating with state governments. “Those affected will be assisted in every way possible,” he said.
Pushing and shoving at religious gatherings is common in India and has made headlines in the past, highlighting the lack of adequate crowd control and safety measures.
At least 12 people were killed in a New Year crowd stampede at one of India’s holiest shrines in the northern Indian city of Jammu in January 2022. In 2008, nearly 150 people who had gathered for a religious event in western India were crushed to death on a hilltop, and three years earlier, more than 250 people were trampled to death during a pilgrimage in the western state of Maharashtra.
This story has been updated with additional information.
