The stampede occurred in a village in Hathras district in Utter Pradesh state, about 200 km (125 miles) southeast of the capital New Delhi, where authorities said thousands of people had gathered in hot weather in the late afternoon.
Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, said the stampede occurred when crowds of devotees began pushing towards the stage after the event to touch the preacher as he descended.
Relatives grieve next to the body of a victim of a stampede in Uttar Pradesh state, India on July 2, 2024. Photo: AP
While the cause was not immediately clear, Hathras district administrator Ashish Kumar said it could have been "due to overcrowding at a time when people were trying to leave the site".
Another senior state official, Chaitra V., told India Today television that people may have lost their balance while searching for water in the hot sun.
"There was wet mud... people might have slipped. Also, because it was hot, people might have gone to the water and that could have also caused the incident," she said, adding that 18 people were injured and were in hospital.
A video on social media showed a large crowd packed into a tented area, waving towards the religious leader sitting on stage. "There must have been about 50,000 people... some people were going to the left and some people were going to the right, the stampede happened in that chaos," witness Suresh Chandra said.
Police said they had launched an investigation and vowed to prosecute anyone involved, adding that the gathering may have been larger than permitted.
"The lapses by the authorities will also be investigated and action will be taken based on the report which will be available within 24 hours," state police chief Prashant Kumar said.
Ambulance crews and residents move the victims' bodies onto the vehicle. Photo: AP
Videos captured by news agency ANI showed bodies piled in the back of trucks and placed on vehicles. Dust-covered purses and bags were piled up at the event venue, with people squatting to rummage through them to identify their belongings. Mobile phones were also stacked up, waiting for their owners to claim them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the federal government was providing assistance to the state and announced compensation of 200,000 rupees ($2,400) to the families of those killed and 50,000 rupees to those injured.
Stampedes and other accidents involving large crowds at religious gatherings and pilgrimage sites in India have occurred in the past.
A stampede in central India in 2013 killed 115 people, while nearly 250 died in 2008 and more than 340 died during an annual pilgrimage in the western state of Maharashtra in 2005, according to local media.
Huy Hoang (according to Reuters, AP, AJ)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tham-kich-giam-dap-xay-ra-o-an-do-it-nhat-116-nguoi-thiet-mang-post302125.html
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