Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 2: The death toll in a stampede after a religious congregation at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday has risen to 116, mostly women and a few children, with scores of others injured, as the authorities blamed on the larger gathering than the permissible limit for the event.
Inspector General of Police Aligarh Range, Shalabh Mathur said, “So far, 116 deaths have been confirmed. 27 bodies are in the Etah mortuary and the rest are in Hathras. They have been sent for post-mortem to different places. We are working hard to ensure that the injured get the best possible treatment at the earliest. A case is being registered and the names of the people who took permission for the event will be added. Prima facie, it appears that there were more people than were allowed.”
The Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar said, “The stampede broke out in Phulrai village within the Sikandra Rao police station limits in Hathras. This was a private event and permission had been given by the sub-divisional magistrate. Security arrangements were made by the administration but the other arrangements were supposed to be made by the organisers,” Mr Kumar said.
A woman who attended the ‘satsang’ said it was organised in honour of a local guru, Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari, and the stampede broke out as the crowd began to leave. Sources said devotees were stopped from leaving until the self-styled guru’s car left, causing a big crowd build-up in a small area.
While speaking at the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the kins of those who lost their lives. He further said, “The centre is in touch with state government and we will extend every possible help to the state.”
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced financial assistance of Rs 2 lakhs each to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the injured. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has reportedly left for Hathras from Ghaziabad to carry out the rescue work.
“Devotees were present in large numbers, when the stampede happened. Several women, children and elderlies died and were injured. The injured are undergoing treatment in Aligarh, Agra, Etah and Hathras,” UP minister Laxmi Narayan Singh who was rushed to Hathras by the chief minister said.
Police said the devotees suffocated to their deaths and bodies piled atop each other in the stampede. It was among the biggest such tragedies in recent years that took place at a ‘satsang’ in Hathras district’s Phulrai village.
Recalling the horror, an eyewitness narrated how people fell atop each other into a drain as they were leaving after Satsang ended. Shakuntala Devi, one of the attendees said the stampede took place while people were leaving the venue at the end of the ‘Satsang’ and in a hurry, they fell atop each other.
A crowd of thousands of devotees gathered for the program of Bhole Baba, renowned as Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari. The number of attendees exceeded the administration’s permitted limit at the venue leading to the stampede, police said.
