A devastating stampede at a Hindu religious gathering in northern India’s Hathras district has resulted in death of at least 121 people, primarily women and children.
A breakdown of the statistics showed that 108 women and seven children have been pronounced dead by medical experts in the country.
The tragedy occurred in a village about 200 km (125 miles) southeast of New Delhi, the country capital.
It was learnt that before the stampede, thousands of devotees had gathered in the sweltering heat observing their religious rites
The administrator of Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district, Ashish Kumar, who confirmed the casualties figure to newsmen, yesterday, linked the stampede at the overcrowded premises to worshippers attempting to leave the venue simultaneously.
Kumar added that other factors contributed to the huge death toll including wet mud and extreme heat, which may have led to slipping and rushing towards water sources.
“There was wet mud in one area where people may have slipped, and the heat may have prompted them to rush to the spot where water was available, contributing to the incident,” he explained.
This tragic event is not an isolated incident, as deadly stampedes have occurred at Indian religious gatherings and pilgrimage sites in the past, often due to inadequate crowd management.
In 2013, a central Indian stampede claimed 115 lives, while 250 died in 2008, and over 340 fatalities occurred during an annual pilgrimage in Maharashtra in 2005.
