Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter |
At least 116 people died, more than 80 injured in a stampede occurred during the religious event of Hindus
in northern India’s state of Uttar Pradesh on July 3,2024.
At least 116 people died, most of them were women and children, said Prashant Kumar, the director-general
of police in Uttar Pradesh, northern India.
More than 80 were injured and shifted to the hospitals, said Shalabh Mathur the senior police officer.
“People started falling one upon another rushed to leave a makeshift tent, those who were crushed died.”
witness Shakuntala Devi told the Press Trust of India News.
Thousands of people were gathered to celebrate the event with a Hindu guru known locally as Bhole Baba.
The large gathering of people produced suffocation and heat that caused the occurrence of stampede.
Another incident happed in the Hathras region, about 200 km (125 miles) southeast of the Indian capital, New Delhi on Tuesday July 2,2024.
The participants started tripping over each other and trampled to death.
According to the reports, more than 150 devotees have been transferred to hospitals, but the number of
deaths is increasing as time goes by.
Local authorities believe that due to the large number of devotees, the excessive humidity created sudden disturbance at the end of the event and a stampede occurred.
The stampede occurred when a crowd of devotees started pushing towards the stage after the event to
touch the preacher coming down, said Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.
As per reports, the number of people permitted for the event was 5,000, but it is said that there was the gathering of 15,000 people.
Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister expressed condolences to the bereaved families and the injured. He
ordered the relevant authorities to look out the matter quickly.
In India, stampede accidents occur frequently due to overcrowd of people at religious events.
In 2011, more than 100 people were crushed to death at a religious event in the southern state of Kerala.
In 2013, 115 people were killed in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
