July 2 (UPI) — A religious gathering in India‘s Uttar Pradesh state ended with a deadly panicked stampede that killed at least 116 Tuesday.
The incident occurred while a Hindu religious guru held a prayer meeting in the village of Rati Bhanpur in the Hathras region of Uttar Pradesh.
Thousands of religious devotees attended and had crowded into tents to get relief from the hot sun.
When the prayer meeting ended, the stampede occurred as people exited tents and rushed to leave.
The event was ending in an orderly fashion when, “I heard screams and, before I knew it, people were falling on each other,” a witness told the BBC.
“Many were crushed and I couldn’t do much,” the unnamed witness said. “I am just lucky to have survived.”
Another witness said people fell into a roadside drain and were crushed to death as more people stumbled and fell on top of them.
Local police reported at least 116 dead, most of whom are women and said the stampede’s cause is under investigation.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told local officials to make sure victims are hospitalized and hasten relief efforts to minimize potential harm.
Many of those who were injured were taken to a local hospital in pickups, tuk tuks and on motorcycles.
Local officials said the event was overcrowded and accidents sometimes occur during such religious events in India.
About 60 died when a train drove through a crowd during a Hindu festival in 2018 and 115 were crushed to death during a Hindu festival in 2013.
