Confusion, screams, chaos. On Tuesday (July 2), hundreds of people had gathered in Phulrai village in UP’s Hathras to listen to ‘Bhole Baba’, a self-styled godman without realising that in no time they would be a part of, perhaps, the worst horror of their life — a stampede.
A whopping 121 people, most of them women, died on Tuesday as a
stampede
unfolded at the end of the religious event. Of those who have died, most of them have been identified by officials, with Aligarh Zone Inspector General of Police (IG) Shalabh Mathur telling PTI, “One hundred and sixteen people have died in the stampede incident in Hathras.” A compensation of Rs 2 lakh each has been announced for the families of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
As family and friends mourn the loss of their loved ones, many senior police officials, along with the forensic unit and a dog squad, have reached the spot, trying to ascertain what caused the deadly stampede.
Primary investigations are already providing some clues as to what happened and here’s what we know so far.
Overcrowding
One of the reasons for the stampede that is being provided is overcrowding. Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh told reporters that overcrowding was one of the reasons behind the stampede at a religious congregation in Phulrai village.
According to Singh, after the satsang concluded, devotees began running after
‘Bhole Baba’s
car, while others bent down to collect soil from the venue and fell. This led to a stampede, resulting in the loss of over 100 lives.
Singh added that it was some kind of ritual for the devotees to touch the self-styled godman’s feet and collect “pair ki dhool” as a blessing after the satsang. “A huge police force was deployed at the satsang venue. I am told that people rushed to touch the feet of Bhole Baba and tried to take soil (of the path he walked on), causing the stampede and many people fell into a nearby drain,” he was quoted as telling the Indian Express.
He also pointed out that the number of people present at the venue exceeded much more than the permitted limit.
The exact number of people who attended the satsang organised by Bhole Baba is still unknown, but Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar has said that the organisers had sought permission for the “private programme”. He added that this would be investigated at a later stage.
Even eyewitnesses corroborate the UP chief secretary’s statement, saying that the crowds rushed towards the ‘guru’, causing the tragedy. “Log unka darshan karna chahte the aur gaadi ka dhool lena chahte the (people wanted his darshan and take the soil from the road on which his car left the venue). After the satsang got over, people started leaving in groups and because it was raining, many slipped and people kept falling on each other and got crushed,” Vikas Kumar, whose grandmother was among those deceased, told Indian Express.
Humid weather, suffocation
Another theory behind what led to the stampede is the hot and humid weather. Inspector General of police (Aligarh Range) explained, said: “The exact reasons are yet to be worked out but initial reports suggest that it was the closed enclosure of tent and prima facie it seems that suffocation led to discomfort for those there and they ran here and there, leading to the stampede.”
This was echoed by ADG (Agra Zone) Anupam Kulshreshtha, who said most of the followers were women and as they felt suffocated, they started to leave in a hurry.
A policeman who was stationed at the satsang said that there were over 1 lakh people crammed inside the tent at the event and it was hot and humid. Feeling uncomfortable inside the tent led to the people wanting to leave and that caused the stampede.
One eyewitness told Hindustan Times, “Once they (the followers) were allowed to leave the venue, the crowd pressure became uncomfortable with hot and humid weather leading to suffocation and caused the stampede.”
A survivor of the stampede told Hindustan Times: “There was a huge crowd of followers on the spot. It all happened when the satsang ended and all were in a haste to leave the enclosure. There was no way out and everybody fell on each other and the stampede took place. When I tried to move out, I found motorcycles parked outside, blocking the way. Many fainted while others died.”
Another survivor recounting to Times of India said, “There was a large crowd at the site. There was no way out, and people fell on each other and fainted. When I tried to move out, there were motorcycles parked outside, which blocked my way.”
FIR filed
A day after the stampede, the police filed an FIR against the organisers of the religious congregation. ‘Mukhya sevadar’ Devprakash Madhukar and other organisers have been named in the first information report (FIR) filed at the Sikandara Rao police station late Tuesday, a senior officer told PTI.
The FIR has been registered under
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence), the officer said.
Moreover, the UP government has also launched two helpline numbers — 05722227041 and 05722227042 — after the Hathras stampede incident.
With inputs from agencies
Link to article –
Overcrowding, humidity, suffocation: How 121 people died in Hathras stampede
