The heat and the feeling of suffocation inside an improvised tent, in which there were hundreds of people, could have been determining factors for the tragic event to occur.
A big stampede at a religious gathering in northern India has caused death of at least 105 people and has left dozens injured, according to authorities reported on Tuesday. Among the deceased are many women and children.
The heat and the feeling of suffocation inside an improvised tent, in which there were hundreds of people, could have been determining factors for the tragic event to occur. Panic gripped the people when part of the structure of the tent gave way and collapsed after an event around the Hindu figure of Bhole Baba.
Shalabh Mathur, a senior police official in the state of Uttar Pradesh, confirmed the death of 105 people and the transfer of 84 injured to hospital. The deadly stampedes are relatively frequent in the indian religious festivalswhere large crowds gather in small areas, with poor infrastructure and few security measures.
Overcrowding as a possible cause of the tragic stampede
Police officer Rajesh Singh believes that there was likely overcrowdingin the event carried out in a village in Hathras district, about 350 kilometers southwest of the state capital, Lucknow. The first reports indicated that more than 15,000 people had gathered at the event, which had permission to accommodate about 5,000 citizens.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the families of the deceased and assured that the federal government was working with state authorities to ensure that the injured received help.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called the stampede of “extremely sad and heartbreaking” in a post on the social media platform X. Thus, he said that authorities were investigating the cause of the tragic event.
In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in the central state of Madhya Pradesh they trampled each other due to fear that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river. In 2011, more than 100 Hindu devotees were crushed to death at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.
