Over 100 Killed at Religious Event in India
New Delhi – A crowd crush at a religious gathering in northern India killed more than a hundred people on Tuesday, mostly women and children, in one of the deadliest such incidents the country has seen in recent years.
The disaster happened at a prayer meeting, known as a satsang, in Mughal Garhi village in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.
The village, in Hathras district, is around 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of the capital New Delhi, as quoted from KRDO site.
At least 116 people, including 108 women and seven children, died after a large number of people rushed to touch the feet of a local preacher, leading to a crush, Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh said.
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About 72 bodies have been identified so far, and dozens of injured people are being treated in nearby hospitals, according to local health officials.
Local officials have suggested overcrowding was the cause of the crush.
An estimated 80,000 people had been expected to attend the event, where the self-styled godman Bhole Baba was giving a sermon. "However, a lot more people showed up," said Singh.
The deadly scenes unfolded after the event had finished, when Bhole Baba’s devotees rushed toward the stage to touch his feet, according to Singh, who described scenes of chaos as people began to fall on top of each other and into an open sewer nearby.
He accused the organizers of failing to comply with a list of requirements given by the district. A high-level inquiry has been launched to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident and a police report will be filed against the event organizers for allegedly exceeding permitted attendance levels, according to local officials.
“There has been a major lapse on the part of the organizers. They will face a strict punishment,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences in an address in the lower house of India’s parliament, the Lok Sabha.
Minister Modi said the government is conducting relief and rescue work and is coordinating with the state government, “The victims will be helped in every way,”
Crowd crushes at religious gatherings in India are not uncommon, and deadly incidents have made headlines in the past, highlighting the lack of adequate crowd control and safety measures.
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