At Least 116 People Dead In India After Stampede At Religious Event

A stampede at a large religious event in northern India has resulted in the deaths of at least 116 people, and an additional dozens injured, including many women and children among the deceased.

Indian authorities are citing overcrowding after a preliminary investigation, centering on a large makeshift tent where thousands of people thronged to see a guru who goes by the name Bhole Baba, also known as Narayan Sakar Hari.

Image source: PTI

Local sources say that heat and suffocation inside the tent could have been a factor. The event had permission by local civic officials to host 5,000 – but there could have been as many as 15,000 people in attendance. It happened in India’s Hathras district, which lies some 350 kilometers south of the regional capital of Lucknow.

The Associated Press describes that—

„People started falling one upon another, one upon another. Those who were crushed died. People there pulled them out,” witness Shakuntala Devi told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Bodies were brought to hospitals and morgues by trucks and private vehicles, government official Matadin Saroj said.

The religious ceremony was just concluding and people were exiting the tent, but according to one regional source the crowds were halted by a security detail in order to allow Bhole Baba and his entourage to exit first. However at that point people rushed toward him given that viewing a 'holy man’ is a form of blessing in Hindu tradition.

Video suggests that at some point during the stampede the whole tent structure collapsed, but the preacher had escaped unscathed and his now said to be in hiding.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences to the families of victims, and he said a federal emergency response is being formed. The official death toll kept rising hours following the tragedy.

JUST IN: At least 77 people have died in a stampede at a religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh, India.

The incident happened at a prayer meeting hosted by a Hindu guru where locals were seen crowding under tents to avoid the heat.

For an unknown reason, people began to… pic.twitter.com/BSovnhKdfp

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Another regional government official called it „extremely sad and heart-wrenching” and vowed a swift investigation.

India has been beset by several mass atrocity stampedes over the years, which have happened at religious festivals which become overwhelmed by pilgrims. For example in 2103 some 115 people in central Madhya Pradesh were crushed or drowned in a nearby river during a stampede involving a bridge.

Bhole Baba, aka Narayan Saakar Hari. Image via YouTube

Currently there are many questions surrounding Bhole Baba, who is a self-appointed 'godman’. Some reports are voicing outrage, saying the overcrowding was in part his responsibility.

Indian media describes that „He allegedly left his government job 26 years ago to begin delivering religious sermons. Today, he has millions of followers across India, including in western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Delhi.”

„Notably, unlike many modern religious figures, Bhole Baba stays away from social media and does not have any official accounts on any platform,” India Today details. „His followers claim that his influence is substantial at the grassroots level.” He is often seen delivering sermons with his wife. Many of his followers believe he is God incarnate.