HATHRAS, India - The death toll in the stampede at a Hindu religious gathering in northern India has risen to 121, news agency ANI reported on Wednesday, as police said the venue was greatly overcrowded at triple its permitted capacity.
The wild stampede occurred on Tuesday at a village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh state, about 200km southeast of New Delhi, as a revered preacher was leaving.
Police had given permission for 80,000 people to gather. Around 250,000 people attended the event, according to a police report seen by Reuters. One hundred and twenty one people were confirmed killed and 28 others left injured, ANI news agency reported, citing local officials. The victims included 108 women and seven children, Manoj Kumar Singh, Uttar Pradesh state's chief secretary, told reporters.
The document described a scene of utter chaos when the preacher at the congregation, Surajpal, also known as 'Bhole Baba', was leaving in his car. Thousands of devotees shouted and ran towards the car, crushing others still sitting in the gathering, according to the document.
Some people also fell into an adjacent field of slush and mud and were trampled there.
Local media said the event was organised by a group of devotees, but did not identify anyone. ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake, said police were trying to ascertain the whereabouts of the preacher.
Police officials in Hathras were not immediately available for comment. The devotees at the event included Kamla, who said she had been attending the preacher's gatherings for two decades. "I went to attend satsang (religious meet) with my 16-year old daughter and a stampede broke out around 2 in the afternoon," she told ANI. Both of them were injured, and her daughter died in hospital, she said.