A stampede at a religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh killed at least 24 people yesterday as thousands of devotees of a controversial guru tried to cross a bridge at once, police said.
At least 60 people were injured.
The followers of Jai Gurudev, a leader of a local religious sect, had gathered in Varanasi, when the deadly stampede broke out.
“We can confirm that 24 people have been killed . We are monitoring the situation,” Daljeet Chaudhary, the additional director general of police, told reporters in state capital Lucknow.
Among the dead are at least 14 women.
The injured have been taken to hospitals while senior district administration officials rushed to the site to assess the situation.
State police chief Javeed Ahmed blamed overcrowding on the bridge for the disaster which occurred at 1.30pm.
“They had sought permission for 5,000 persons but many more people reached and joined the procession,” Ahmed told NDTV news network.
According to reports at least 80,000 people had turned up.
“They were crossing a bridge when some rumour mongering happened which led to the disaster,” Ahmed said.
Raj Bahadur, a spokesman for the organisers, said, “We were not prepared for such a large crowd.”
Bahadur alleged negligence by the police, stating they failed to provide proper security even though they had been informed well in advance.
TV footage showed colourful clothing and slippers piled one on top of the other with policemen trying to clear the debris.
“There was a lot of chaos, all of us were pushed and shoved. Many people have died including my mother,” a witness told reporters.
Varanasi’s Senior Superintendent of Police, Akash Kulhari said: “The participants were feeling uncomfortable in the heat due to which the stampede might have occurred.”
He said that as the incident spot was on the district boundary with Chandauli, police from both areas had reached the area for rescue and relief operations.
An officer at the spot said that they were focusing on relief and rescue operations and “a probe will be ordered later to ascertain the exact cause of the tragedy.”
Chandauli District Magistrate Kumar Prashant said an awareness camp was going on in Domri village, on the banks of the Ganges in the district, and a large number of devotees from Varanasi’s Pili Kothi area were on their way there when the stampede occurred.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced compensation of Rs200,000 each to families of the dead.
Varanasi is also the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who expressed his grief over the incident.
“Deeply saddened by the loss of lives in the stampede in Varanasi. Condolences to the bereaved families. Prayers with those injured,” Modi tweeted.
“I have spoken to officials and asked them to ensure all possible help to those affected due to the stampede..,” he said in another tweet.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi also expressed shock and grief over the deaths.
Hoping that the authorities concerned were providing adequate medical relief and compensation to the victims, Gandhi also instructed party workers to provide all possible assistance to the people, a Congress statement said.
Rahul Gandhi, in a statement, said: “Shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the stampede in Varanasi. My heartfelt condolences to families of the victims of this tragic incident.”
Stampedes at India’s religious festivals, where a mixture of police and volunteer stewards are often overwhelmed by the sheer size of the crowds, are not uncommon.
Last July, a stampede on the banks of a holy river killed 27 pilgrims in southern India.
Around 115 people were killed in October 2013 at a stampede near a temple in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, site of another deadly stampede there seven years earlier.
A large number of people are seen on the Rajghat bridge before the deadly stampede occurred yesterday.
