Hathras stampede: 116 killed in stampede, most victims women

A stampede at a religious congregation killed 116 people on Tuesday as devotees suffocated to their deaths and bodies piled atop each other in the worst such tragedy in recent yearsThe stampede took place as people headed home after a satsang in the districts Phulrai village conducted by a preacher known as Bhole BabaTwentyseven bodies were brought to a hospital in neighbouring Etah district Senior Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar Singh said 23 of them were women And 89 lay dead in Hathras itselfAligarh Range Inspector General of Police Shalabh Mathur put the death toll at 116Victims dead or unconscious were brought to the Sikandara Rao Trauma Centre in trucks and tempos The bodies lay scattered outside the health centre as people milled around themOne video clip showed a woman crying sitting amid five or six bodies in a truck Another showed a man and a woman lifeless in another vehicleClips before the stampede showed people in a large shamiana listening to Bhole Baba The baba sat before them on a thronelike chairDistrict Magistrate Ashish Kumar said the satsang was a private function for which the subdivisional magistrate had granted permission The local administration provided security outside the venue while the arrangements inside were made by organisers he addedEyewitness Shakuntala Devi told PTI Videos that the stampede took place while people were leaving the venue after the satsang which was a daylong affairPeople fell atop each other she said and then the bodies were pulled outAccording to Sikandra Rao sub divisional magistrate 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 babas feet he told PTISatsang participant Sonu Kumar blamed the slippery ground for the stampedeWhen Guru ji 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 slippedSikandra Rao police station SHO Ashish Kumar blamed overcrowding at the satsangAnother eyewitness who left the place before the satsang ended said the arrangements were not adequate given the number of devoteesAgras additional director general of police and Aligarh divisional commissioner are part of a team that would probe in the incident the state government said The team has been asked to give its report in 24 hoursAmid his reply to a twoday debate in Parliament on the motion of thanks on the Presidents address to both Houses of Parliament Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deathsIn 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 SabhaThe prime minister said senior officials of the central government are in constant contact with the Uttar Pradesh administration to coordinate aid effortsOn social media President Droupadi Murmu said the news was heartrending Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge expressed sadnessAn FIR will be registered against the organisers of the event a state government statement saidThe Prime Ministers Office announced an exgratia compensation of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each person killed in the stampede The injured would be given Rs 50000Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made a similar announcementHe said state ministers Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary and Sandeep Singh were headed for Hathras The chief secretary and the state police chief too were directed to reach the spotThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever