India: A gloom befalls Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, after at least 120 people lost their lives in a stampede at a Hindu shrine. The event, a satsang which is an assembly of devotees to have a darshan of self-styled guru Bhole Baba, went out of control as around 250000 people congregated which is much more than the permissible limit of 50000.
People described the stampede that took place at the front as people tried to get nearer to the guru and the wet ground he had walked on. The crush deepened when authorities, who wanted to manage the flow of the crowd, allegedly used force to ensure that people did not vacate the areas that were dangerous. This led to a sequence of disasters where many people, specifically women and children, were trapped and killed in the confusion.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath immediately called for a probe into the matter while the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi assured the families of the victims of his support. Legal processes have been followed up against the organizers of the event, and investigations are ongoing to arrest Bhole Baba who is also referred to as Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari.
The tragedy has rekindled a familiar problem in India where stampedes in sacred facilities and processions continue to claim numerous lives. One of the parliament members, Rajesh Kumar Jha, raised concerns about the lack of safety measures as he urges for more stringent measures to be adopted to avoid such disasters.
Relatives of the victims convened near the hospitals and morgues to find out the details of their beloved ones, and grieve. The community is still in shock and grieving as they try to understand the extent of the disaster that took place during what was supposed to be a religious event.
Police and other stakeholders are still seeking to determine who was responsible for the events that led to the tragedy in order to prevent similar tragedy in the future. The sad occurrence highlights the importance of crowd control and security measures to prevent and mitigate disaster during massive social gatherings.
