Hathras: What we know about the stampede that killed 121 people in Uttar Pradesh

The death toll from a crush at a religious gathering in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has risen to 121, making it one of the deadliest such disasters in more than a decade.

The incident occurred on Tuesday during a satsang (a Hindu religious festival) in Hathras district.

According to police, the number of people present at the venue was three times the maximum permitted and most of the dead and injured were women.

A lawsuit was filed against the organizers of the event.

The tragedy sparked widespread outrage in India and raised questions about inadequate safety measures.

The stampede occurred in the village of Phulrai, where a self-proclaimed cleric named Bhole Baba was holding a religious gathering.

According to official reports, the event was massively overcrowded.

The authorities had approved a gathering of 80,000 people, but according to the police first information report (FIR), only about 250,000 people attended the event.

At the end of the event, chaos broke out when the preacher tried to leave in his car.

The police report states that thousands of believers ran towards his vehicle and began collecting dust from the road in an act of devotion.

As the crowd grew, several of those sitting or squatting on the ground were crushed.

The document goes on to say that some people tried to run to a mud-covered field across the road, but were violently stopped and run over by organizers.

Police have charged a man they say was the main organizer of the event and several other people with a number of charges, including premeditated murder.

On Tuesday, disturbing images from the scene of the accident were shared on the Internet.

Some videos showed injured people being taken to hospital in pick-up trucks, tuk tuks and even motorbikes.

Other clips showed desperate family members screaming outside a local hospital, trying to find their loved ones among the rows of bodies at the entrance.

Bunty, who uses only one name and hails from the state’s Aligarh district, said the loss of his mother had devastated him.

He saw her body lying outside a hospital on a news channel on Tuesday evening.

“But when I went there, I could not find my mother and since then I have been trying to find her body,” he told BBC Hindi.

Others expressed their anger over the incident.

Ritesh Kumar, whose 28-year-old wife was among the dead, said his life had been turned upside down.

“My family has been destroyed. The government should ensure that we get justice,” he said.

The self-proclaimed guru, whose real name is Suraj Pal, is said to be hiding in his ashram in Mainpuri, about 100 kilometers from the village of Pulrai.

Not much is known about him, but he was reportedly a police officer in the state police and adopted the name Bhole Baba after retiring from the police service.

He has thousands of followers, many of whom said they have been following his religious teachings for years.

According to police, he runs an organization called Ram Kutir Charitable Trust, which was also the main organizer of Tuesday’s event.

Satsangs are events where people gather to pray, sing religious songs or listen to a preacher. They are often attended by many women.

Gomti Devi, who was present at the event, said she had great faith in Bhole Baba.

She said she wears a locket with his photo because he “cures diseases, ends domestic problems and creates jobs.”

Additional reporting by Abhishek Mathur in Hathras