Mass panic at religious event in northern India leaves dozens dead

Ashish Kumar, district magistrate of Hathras district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, told reporters on local television that the “incident occurred when people were leaving the gathering towards the end of the event due to excessive stuffiness.”

District Inspector General Shalabh Mathur told television reporters that 116 people were killed in the stampede.

Temperatures in the region reached 32 degrees Celsius and humidity was 77 percent, pushing the heat index above 43 degrees Celsius.

The religious gathering was led by a local Hindu preacher and took place in a covered outdoor venue where women crowded together, chanting and waving their hands above their heads, according to videos of the scene and descriptions of the event given by eyewitnesses to local media.

Eyewitnesses told television reporters that the stampede broke out when the preacher left the hall. Worshippers rushed to the exit to see him up close, while many threw themselves on the ground to seek his blessing, they said.

Chaitra V, a senior local official in charge of the districts where the stampede took place, told news channel Aaj Tak that while there was sufficient space at the event and necessary permits had been obtained, people got “stuck in the mud” as they fled the venue to “a water source” “to save themselves from the heat”.

The injured and dead were taken to hospitals in Hathras and the neighbouring Etah district.

Speaking from the hospital in Etah district, Bablu Kumar said his two aunts were caught in the stampede. The 38-year-old and his brother rushed from their village, two hours away, but got caught in a traffic jam on the way to the area.

When they arrived at the scene, they immediately found the body of one aunt, but were still desperately searching for the second one among the rows of bodies.

“There are rows of bodies, numbered. There is no one to explain what happened,” he told The Washington Post in a telephone interview. “Why did they allow so many people to gather when they don’t have the facilities? The situation here is dire. The government should never allow something like this to happen again.”

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed his condolences to the victims in a post on X. “Instructions have been given to the concerned officials to carry out relief and rescue operations… and provide proper treatment to the injured,” he wrote.

He also announced compensation of $2,400 for the families of the dead and $600 for each injured person.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interrupted a speech to Parliament to address the incident, saying: “I want to assure everyone that the victims will be helped in every possible way.”

However, Dinesh, who goes by only one name, said the government could do nothing to help the loss of his mother as he prepared to collect her body from the scene. Two of his other relatives, who sustained minor injuries in the event, were travelling back with him.

His mother, Meera Devi, began traveling to see the preachers last year, but Dinesh said he was concerned that this event in particular would be too crowded because of the extensive local advertising.

“I told her not to go the next morning, but she didn’t listen to me,” he said. “I don’t even know if 50 or 100 people ran her over.”

The event was hosted by a local preacher named Narayan Sakar Hari, whose name translates to “God in human form.” Videos of previous gatherings show him sitting on a throne-like seat wearing a suit and tie and explaining his supposedly miraculous powers.

“I go to temples, churches and mosques. I go anywhere people are looking for me,” he said in one video. In another, he rolls his eyes, throws his microphone off the stage and extends a palm toward his supporters.

The stampede is one of the deadliest in India in recent years, with fatal clashes frequently occurring at religious events and political rallies. At least 110 people were killed in a stampede at an event in an Indian temple in 2013.

This summer, India has experienced record-breaking heat, which has claimed nearly 100 lives so far, including election workers, according to Reuters. Northern India has been hit particularly hard, with temperatures reaching up to 49 degrees Celsius in the summer.

Pietsch reported from Washington.