116 killed in stampede at UP’s Hathras as disciples vie for their guru’s glimpse
Hathras (UP), July 2
A stampede at a religious congregation here killed 116 persons on Tuesday as devotees were suffocated to death and bodies piled atop each other in the worst such tragedy in recent years.
The stampede took place as the devotees, most of them women, headed home from Phulrai village in the district following a ‘satsang’, conducted by Baba Narayan Hari, also known as Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba. Some devotees are learnt to have slipped in the slush as they tried to get a glimpse of Bhole Baba as the event ended, which triggered the stampede.
- 340 killed at Mandhardevi temple in Satara (Maha) on Jan 25, 2005
- 250 dead at Jodhpur’s Chamunda Devi temple on Sept 30, 2008
- 162 killed at Naina Devi temple in Himachal’s Bilaspur on Aug 3, 2008
- 115 killed near Ratangarh temple in MP’s Datia on Oct 13, 2013
- 104 Sabarimala devotees killed at Pulmedu in Kerala on Jan 14, 2011
- 63 killed at Ram Janki Temple in UP’s Pratapgarh on March 4, 2010
- 39 devotees killed at Kumbh Mela in Nashik on Aug 27, 2003
- 32 dead at Gandhi Maidan in Patna post Dasehra festivity on Oct 3, 2014
PM mourns deaths
Condolences to those who lost their dear ones… hope for the speedy recovery of the injured. Narendra Modi, PM
UP Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh said barring seven children and a man, the deceased were women. The victims, dead or unconscious, were brought to Sikandara Rau Trauma Centre in trucks and ‘tempos’. The bodies lay scattered outside the health centre as people milled around them.
A video clip showed a woman crying, sitting amid five or six bodies in a truck. Clips before the stampede showed people in a large ‘shamiana’ listening to Bhole Baba, who sat before them on a throne-like chair.
District Magistrate Ashish Kumar said the ‘satsang’ was a private function for which the SDM had granted permission.
The local administration provided security outside the venue while the arrangements inside were made by organisers, he added.
Eyewitness Shakuntala Devi said the stampede took place while people were leaving the venue after the ‘satsang’, which was a day-long affair. People fell atop each other, she said, and then the bodies were pulled out.
According to Sikandra Rao SDM Ravendra Kumar, the stampede took place when devotees tried to get a glimpse of Bhole Baba as the event ended. They also wanted to collect some soil from around the baba’s feet, he said.
‘Satsang’ participant Sonu Kumar blamed the slippery ground for the stampede. “When Guruji left the place after almost one and half hours, all of a sudden devotees ran behind him to touch his feet,” he said. When they turned back, some slipped.
Sikandra Rao police station SHO Ashish Kumar blamed “overcrowding” at the ‘satsang’. Another eyewitness, who left the place before the ‘satsang’ ended, said the arrangements were not adequate, given the number of devotees.
Agra’s ADGP and Aligarh Divisional Commissioner were part of a team that would probe the incident, the state government said. The team has been asked to give its report in 24 hours.
Amid his reply to a two-day debate in Parliament on the motion of thanks on the President’s Address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths. “In the midst of discussions, I have also been given sad news. It has come to my attention that there have been many tragic deaths in the stampede in Hathras, UP,” he said in the Lok Sabha. President Droupadi Murmu said the news was heart-rending. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge expressed sadness.
