‘People were falling on top of each other’: What caused the stampede in India that left at least 121 people dead

The Stampede that killed at least 121 people at a religious event in northern India It occurred when several of the 250,000 attendees tried to get close to the local guru Bhole Baba, This caused many of them to fall down a slippery slope and be trampled, official sources said on Wednesday.

“I spoke to several witnesses and they informed me that the incident occurred after the event. As the guru was coming down from the stage, several women started to go towards him to touch him, but security stopped them and the accident occurred.”the chief minister of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, told a news conference on Wednesday.

The death toll rose to 121 on Wednesday, most of them women, while 31 injured people remain under treatment in various hospitals, although “out of danger,” according to Adityanath.

On Wednesday, the muddy field next to a highway where the stampede occurred was still littered with abandoned clothing and shoes.

What caused the stampede in India?

Nearly 250,000 people had gathered on Tuesday to hear Bhole Baba, a Hindu preacher in Hathras, a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh.in northern India, a figure that police say is more than triple the 80,000 authorised for such events.

Sikandra Rao Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ravindra Kumar said in a report that Devotees who tried to approach the guru were greeted with shoving by the event’s private security, which led to more shoving by the rest of the attendees who wanted to move forward. and that was the beginning of chaos.

Kumar claimed to be one of the attendees and said in his report, reported by the Indian Express newspaper, that many devotees began to flee desperately towards the sides of the vacant lot where the ceremony was held on Tuesday. the religious ceremony in the Hathras district.

At that moment, he added, several of those fleeing fell down a slippery slope that connected the vacant lot to the road. and they were unable to get up because they were trampled by other believers who were following the same path.

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister said an investigation was underway to determine the cause and accused the organisers of covering up the accident by “trying to suppress several details”.

He also said that the event’s private security did not allow regional authorities access.

The moments of panic experienced by attendees at the event in India

According to witnesses, many people fell on top of each other as they ran down a slope towards a water-filled ditch.

“Everyone, the entire crowd, including women and children, left the venue at the same time,” said Sheela Maurya, a 50-year-old police officer on duty. “There wasn’t enough space and people were falling on top of each other,” he explained.

Some participants fainted under pressure from the crowd, fell and were trampled.

The policewoman working during the ceremony on Tuesday was also injured. “I tried to help the women, but I fainted and was crushed by the crowd,” she said. “I don’t know how, but someone pulled me out of there.”

Hori Lal, 45, who lives in Phulrai Mughalgadi, a nearby village, also said: “The main road that runs along the camp was packed with people and vehicles for miles, there were too many people.”

“When people started falling and getting crushed, it was chaos,” he explained.

Authorities initially pointed to a dust storm as the trigger for the panic movement. But police later claimed the stampede occurred when “pilgrims began collecting dirt” behind the preacher’s footsteps.

It was very hot, I fell and survived with great difficulty.

Policewoman Sheela Maurya had “never seen so many people” at an event, although she had worked in security at political or religious gatherings before. “It was very hot, I fell and survived with great difficulty.”

Stampedes and avalanches are common occurrences at Indian religious celebrations and are largely due to poor crowd management. crowded or to the precariousness of the infrastructure surrounding places of worship.

However, to find a stampede more deadly than the one on Tuesday, we have to go back to September 2008, when at least 150 people died and another 100 were injured in a stampede at the entrance to a temple in the city of Jodhpur, in the western Indian state of Rajasthan.

Authorities hunt for Bhole Baba, the guru behind the stampede in India

For now, local guru Suraj Pal Singh, better known to his followers as Bhole Baba, remains missing. since he organized the religious ceremony that sparked a stampede that caused 121 deaths.

Since he was last seen on Tuesday around 2:00 p.m. local time in the vehicle he used to leave the event, while thousands of his followers tried to get close to him, unleashing a stampede, the authorities have not been able to locate him.

The complaint against the event organisers does not mention Bhole Baba’s name, although it does mention other close associates of his, according to Indian media, although the authorities have not yet reported any arrests.

Images from the Indian agency ANI showed last night several police vehicles stationed in front of his ashram or meditation center in the district of Mainpuri, which is about a hundred kilometers from the place where the human avalanche occurred.

However, Deputy Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar told reporters that the guru was not found inside and the search is still on.

There is little information about Baba’s life before he became a preacher, a move that Indian media reports took place in the 1990s when he left behind his job as a member of the intelligence unit of the Uttar Pradesh state police.

It was then that this man, who is estimated to be over 60 years old, adopted the name Sakar Vishwa Hari and began giving sermons under the nickname Bhole Baba, gradually gaining a reputation as a spiritual leader in this area of ​​the north of the country.

Indian channel NDTV claimed that Baba organised a similar event in May 2022, when he brought together more than 50,000 people after only receiving permission for 50 people due to a slight increase in Covid cases in the Asian country.

Besides, The same media reported that the famous guru was accused of sexual abuse in 1997 and was sent to prison, after which he founded his ashram.

On Wednesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced compensation of $2,400 for the families of those killed in the stampede and $600 for those injured in the “tragic accident.”