At least 121 people have been killed in a crush at a religious gathering in northern India, officials have reported. The incident occurred at a satsang, a Hindu religious event, in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh state.
The victims, including many women and some children, are still being identified. Survivors recounted the disaster’s onset as they tried to exit the event in Phulrai village. While the exact cause of the crush is unclear, witnesses noted that the exit was too narrow, and a sudden dust storm caused confusion and panic, leading to the trampling of many attendees.
An eyewitness, who chose to remain anonymous, told the BBC everything seemed normal until sudden screams erupted, and people began falling over each other. “Many were crushed and I couldn’t do much. I am just lucky to have survived,” they said.
“When the sermon finished, everyone started running out,” a woman named Shakuntala told the Press Trust of India. “People fell in a drain by the road. They started falling one on top of the other and got crushed to death.”
Umesh Kumar Tripathi, chief medical officer from the neighboring district of Etah, confirmed that the “stampede” had resulted in the deaths of at least three children.
A spokesperson for a senior police officer in Uttar Pradesh told the BBC it would “take hours to release the final tally.” Distressing images from the site are being circulated online, showing the injured being transported to hospitals in pick-up trucks, tuk-tuks, and even motorbikes.
A video seen by the BBC showed several bodies left at the entrance of a local hospital as relatives cried for help. “Such a huge accident has happened but not a single senior officer is present here,” a relative in another video said. “Where is the administration?”
Mr. Kumar said the venue had been overcrowded, and a high-level committee had been formed to investigate the incident. “The primary focus of the administration is to provide all possible help to the injured and kin of the deceased,” he said.
A video shared by news agency PTI showed the wounded being brought to a hospital for treatment. “Procedure of post-mortem is under way and the matter is being investigated,” said Satya Prakash, an official in the neighboring district of Etah.
In Hathras, the screams of distraught family members can be heard in the local hospital. Many people are trying to find their loved ones, with many bodies remaining unclaimed. There is a shortage of ambulances, with each one bringing two to three bodies. Hathras is filled with despair and pain.
Accidents are routinely reported at religious events in India, as huge crowds gather in tight spaces with little adherence to safety measures. In 2018, around 60 people were killed after a train rammed into a crowd watching celebrations for Dusshera, a Hindu festival. In 2013, a crush at a Hindu festival in the central state of Madhya Pradesh had killed 115 people.
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