Over 120 people, including many women, die in mass crush at religious event in India

More than 100 people, most of them women, were killed in a riot at a religious gathering in northern India on Tuesday, one of the deadliest such incidents the country has seen in recent years.

Many of the dozens of dead had fallen into an open sewer next to the venue. Police are investigating the organizers. They say a quarter of a million people came to the venue – more than three times as many as expected – and only a few dozen police officers were on duty.

Investigators are looking for Bhole Baba, the self-proclaimed godman who led the event. The disaster occurred at a prayer meeting, known as a satsang, in the village of Mughal Garhi in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. The village in Hathras district is about 200 kilometers southeast of the capital New Delhi.

At least 121 people died and 35 others were injured, Education Minister Sandeep Singh told reporters on Wednesday, after a large number of people rushed to touch Bhole Baba’s feet, causing a crush.

Almost all of those killed were women, Singh said earlier, and at least seven children were among the dead.

According to local health authorities, about 72 bodies have been identified so far and dozens of injured people are being treated in nearby hospitals.

Local authorities suspect that overcrowding is the reason for the rush.

An estimated 80,000 people were expected to attend the event, where Bhole Baba delivered a sermon, but “many more people came,” Singh said.

Since the fatal incident, police have been searching for Bhole Baba, accusing the event’s organizers of premeditated killing (not murder), false imprisonment, disappearance of evidence and making false statements, according to a police report seen by CNN.

A permit had been requested for the event, which would attract 80,000 attendees, but a crowd of more than 250,000 worshipers gathered, the report said.

Organizers and officials tried to direct the crowd as thousands tried to leave the building, and dozens were trampled in the chaos that ensued, it said. The report claimed organizers failed to provide aid to the injured and tried to cover up the incident by hiding the clothes and shoes that people lost in the crush in a nearby field.

About 40 police officers were deployed to ensure security at the event, Agra Deputy Director General of Police Anupam Kulshreshtha told reporters.

The deadly scenes unfolded after the event ended, when Bhole Baba’s followers rushed to the stage to touch his feet, according to chief secretary Singh, who described chaotic scenes as people fell over each other and fell into a nearby open sewer.

He accused the organizers of failing to comply with a list of district requirements. A high-level investigation has been launched to look into the circumstances of the incident and charges will be filed against the event organizers for allegedly exceeding the permitted number of participants, local authorities said.

“The organizers have made a serious mistake. They must expect a severe punishment,” he said.

Survivors spoke after the horrific incident. “People fell on top of each other one by one. Those who were crushed died. The people there pulled them out,” Shakuntala Devi told the Press Trust of India news agency, according to Associated Press.

Efforts are being made to provide medical care to the injured and arrangements are being made for post-mortems at various locations, said Inspector General Shalabh Mathur of the neighbouring Ambala Range district.

A video carried by Reuters showed crowds outside a hospital in nearby Etah district, where distraught families were crying for the victims and medical staff were seen carrying people on stretchers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences in a speech to Parliament.

Modi said the government was conducting “relief and rescue operations” and was coordinating them with the state government. “The victims will be helped in every possible way,” he said.

Crowds at religious gatherings are not uncommon in India. In the past, deadly incidents have repeatedly made headlines, highlighting the lack of adequate crowd control and security measures.

At least a dozen people were killed in a New Year stampede at one of India’s holiest shrines in Jammu in the north of the country in January 2022. In 2008, a mountaintop stampede killed nearly 150 people gathered for a religious event in western India, and three years earlier, more than 250 people were trampled to death during a pilgrimage in the western state of Maharashtra.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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