At least 116 people, many of them women and children, were killed Tuesday in a stampede at a religious gathering in Hathras in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) southeast of New Delhi, authorities said. A large crowd gathered in an open field at the invitation of a local religious leader. Thousands of people had gathered in sweltering afternoon temperatures. The stampede occurred when a crowd of devotees tried to touch the preacher as he was coming down from a stage, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said.
Videos posted on social media showed bodies piled on the ground outside a local hospital. “The incident occurred due to overcrowding as people were trying to leave the place,” Hathras district administrator Ashish Kumar told reporters. “There was wet mud at a place where people could have slipped. Also, due to the heat, people might have gone to the place where there was water, which could also have caused the incident,” another senior state official said.
A witness told India Today that the exit from the compound was narrow: “When we were trying to get out to an open field, suddenly a commotion started and we didn’t know what to do.” Another witness told the same outlet that at the exit from the compound, satsang (“People began to fall, one after another, into a drain under the road. Some were crushed.” The event, organised by a religious committee, was attended by thousands of people, according to one of those attending.
Other videos shot by the ANI news agency showed bodies piled up on the backs of trucks and dumped into vehicles. Purses and bags covered in dust lay in the massacre after the rush, and people squatted down, searching through them to identify their belongings. Mobile phones were also piled up, waiting to be claimed by their owners. One video showed a large crowd gathered in a tented area, standing and listening to devotional tunes.
The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (India’s most populous state, with over 200 million inhabitants), Yogi Adityanath, has ordered an investigation into the incident. “Instructions have been given to the officials concerned to carry out relief and rescue operations and provide adequate treatment to the injured,” he added in a post on X.
Indian President Draupadi Murmu described the news as “heartbreaking”. “I express my deepest condolences to those who have lost their relatives and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” she said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi told parliament: “The central government is involved in the rescue operations and is in touch. All possible help will be provided to the victims.” He also announced compensation of 200,000 rupees (2,200 euros) for the families of the deceased and 50,000 rupees for the injured.
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