CHRISTIAN BREAKING NEWS: At Least 116 People Killed, Mostly Women and Children at Religious Event in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, India [#HathrasStampede]
CHRISTIAN BREAKING NEWS: At Least 116 People Killed, Mostly Women and Children at Religious Event in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, India [#HathrasStampede]
Thousands of people at a religious gathering in India rushed out of a makeshift tent on Tuesday, causing a stampede that killed at least 116 people and injured many more, according to officials.
It was unclear what sparked the fear following an incident involving a Hindu guru known locally as Bhole Baba.
According to local news sources, police believe heat and suffocation in the tent were contributing factors.
According to video footage from the aftermath, the structure appeared to have fallen.
The stampede killed at least 116 people, the majority of them were women and children, according to Prashant Kumar, the director-general of police in Uttar Pradesh, northern India.
Senior police officer Shalabh Mathur claimed more than 80 people were injured and sent to hospitals.
Relatives sobbed as bodies of the dead, placed on stretchers and wrapped in white sheets, lined the grounds of a local hospital.
A bus arrived and transported more victims, their bodies laying on the seats inside.
Deadly stampedes are quite typical during Indian religious festivals, when lage crowds gather in small areas with inadequate infrastructure and insufficient safety measures.
According to police inspector Rajesh Singh, the event at a village in Hathras district, around 350 kilometers (220 miles) southwest of the state capital, Lucknow, was most likely overcrowded.
According to initial reports, organizers had authorization to host approximately 5,000 people, but more than 15,000 attended the event hosted by the Hindu preacher, who formerly worked as a police officer in the state before leaving to conduct religious sermons.
He has hosted similar gatherings for the last 2 decades.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the families of the dead and stated that the federal government was collaborating with state authorities to ensure that those injured received assistance.
Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, described the stampede as “heart-wrenching” in a X post.
He stated that authorities were investigating.
“Look what happened and how many people have lost their lives. Will anyone be accountable?” Rajesh Kumar Jha, a member of Parliament, informed reporters.
He blamed the stampede on the state and federal governments’ failure to manage huge crowds, and warned that “people will keep dying” if authorities do not take safety precautions seriously enough.
NEWS SOURCE & LINKS:
AP News
AT LEAST 116 PEOPLE KILLED, MOSTLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN at Religious Event in Hathras, UP, India… | Christian Breaking News!