Survivors of India’s deadliest stampede in over a decade shared harrowing accounts of being crushed at an overcrowded Hindu religious event that claimed 121 lives. A police report revealed that the gathering in Uttar Pradesh’s northern state drew over 250,000 attendees, surpassing the 80,000 permitted by authorities. In the aftermath of the tragedy, the site—a muddy field adjacent to a highway—was littered with abandoned clothing and footwear. Witnesses described scenes of chaos as people fell into a water-logged ditch, tumbling down a slope and onto each other.
One police officer, Sheela Maurya, who had been on duty during the sermon by a renowned Hindu preacher, recounted the turmoil. “There wasn’t enough space, and everyone just fell on top of each other,” she said. The stampede, which predominantly claimed the lives of women and included seven children and one man, was reportedly triggered when worshippers attempted to collect soil from the preacher’s footsteps. Others suggested that a dust storm had incited panic among the crowd.
Many individuals fainted from the sheer pressure of the throng, falling and being trampled in the ensuing pandemonium. The Office of the Relief Commissioner in Uttar Pradesh, which released the official death toll on Wednesday morning, confirmed that 121 people had lost their lives. Maurya, herself injured in the incident, shared her experience: “I tried to help some women, but even I fainted and was crushed under the crowd.”
Deadly stampedes at religious events are not uncommon in India, where major festivals draw millions of devotees to sacred sites. “The main highway next to the field was packed with people and vehicles for kilometers,” said Hori Lal, a local resident. “Once people started falling and getting crushed, there was just chaos.” Chaitra V., the divisional commissioner of Aligarh, initially attributed the panic to a dust storm that blinded attendees, leading to confusion. However, Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh later stated that the rush to get close to the preacher and collect soil caused the stampede.
The incident has underscored the severe lack of crowd management and safety measures at large gatherings in the country. As dawn broke on Wednesday, the grim reality became evident with four unidentified bodies lying on the floor of a makeshift morgue in a nearby hospital. Ram Nivas, a farmer, searched desperately for his sister-in-law Rumla, who had gone missing in the chaos. “We just hope she’s still alive,” he murmured, expressing a faint hope amidst despair.
In the hospital’s emergency ward, Sandeep Kumar tended to his injured sister, Shikha, recounting the nightmare of seeing people faint and get trampled. The Indian government announced compensation for the victims, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering financial aid to the families of the deceased and the injured. President Droupadi Murmu described the deaths as “heart-rending,” while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is also a Hindu monk, extended his condolences and ordered an investigation into the incident.
The tragedy highlights a grim pattern of safety lapses at religious gatherings in India. The country has witnessed several such incidents over the years, including a catastrophic stampede in 2008 at a hilltop temple in Jodhpur, which resulted in the deaths of 224 pilgrims and injuries to over 400 others.
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