At least 60 people, including many women and children, were killed in a mass panic at a religious event in India

LUCKNOW, India – At least 60 people have been killed and scores injured in a stampede among thousands of people at a religious gathering in northern India, officials said Tuesday. Many of the dead include women and children, and the death toll may rise.

Participants had hurriedly left the makeshift tent after an event featuring Hindu figure Bhole Baba, local media reported, citing authorities, who said heat and suffocation inside may have been a factor. A video of the aftermath showed the structure apparently collapsing. Women complained of the deaths.

Deadly stampedes are relatively common during Indian religious festivals, with large crowds crammed into a small space with poor infrastructure and few security measures.

According to police officer Rajesh Singh, the event in a village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh state, about 350 kilometers southwest of the state capital Lucknow, was likely overcrowded.

According to initial reports, over 15,000 people attended the event, which had only been approved for around 5,000 people.

“People fell one after another. Those who were crushed died. The people there pulled them out,” witness Shakuntala Devi told the Press Trust of India news agency.

The bodies were taken to hospitals and mortuaries by trucks and private vehicles, said government official Matadin Saroj. Government official Ashish Kumar told the Associated Press that at least 60 bodies, including many women and children, had arrived at mortuaries in the district.

More than 150 people were admitted to hospitals, medical official Umesh Tripathi said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the families of the dead and said the federal government was working with state authorities to ensure that the injured were helped.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath described the stampede as “extremely sad and heartbreaking” in a post on social media platform X. He said authorities were investigating the cause.

In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in the central state of Madhya Pradesh trampled on each other over fears that a bridge might collapse. At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river.

In 2011, more than 100 Hindu believers died in a crush during a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.