Witnesses describe horror as death toll in UP stampede rises to 121
Lucknow: Survivors of India’s deadliest stampede in over a decade recounted scenes of horror at a vastly overcrowded Hindu religious gathering that left 121 people dead in Uttar Pradesh.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the gathering, which attracted over 250,000 attendees — triple the permitted number — turned tragic when attendees, including women and children, were crushed in a stampede in Hathras on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, witnesses described chaotic scenes as people tumbled down a slope into a water-logged ditch, overwhelmed by the massive crowd. The incident occurred as worshippers gathered soil from the preacher’s footsteps, with some attributing the stampede to a dust storm that caused panic. Some fainted from the force of the crowd, before falling and being trampled upon, unable to move.
“Everyone — the entire crowd, including women and children — all left from the event site at once,” said police officer Sheela Maurya, who had been on duty on Tuesday as a popular Hindu preacher addressed the gathering. “There wasn’t enough space, and everyone just fell on top of each other.”
The Uttar Pradesh’s state disaster management centre, the Office of the Relief Commissioner, released a list of the dead on Wednesday morning. It said 121 people had been killed.
This tragic event highlights ongoing concerns over crowd management and safety at religious gatherings in India, notorious for deadly incidents due to poor infrastructure and organizational lapses.
More than 100 devotees were killed in 2013 in a stampede at a bridge near a temple in Madhya Pradesh. In 2008, 224 pilgrims were killed and more than 400 were injured in a stampede at a hilltop temple in the northern city of Jodhpur.
