Stampede in Hathras Leaves Over 100 Dead; Families Await Autopsies Amid Chaos

Following a deadly stampede during a religious gathering on Tuesday night, numerous bodies were laid on blocks of ice at the local government hospital, while grieving relatives waited outside in the drizzle to reclaim their loved ones. Authorities reported 116 deaths, including 108 women and seven children, from the thousands attending religious preacher Bhole Baba’s ‘Satsang’ near Phulrai village in Sikandrarau.

The stampede occurred around 3:30 pm as Baba was leaving the venue. At the Sikandra Rao Community Health Centre, the nearest facility, many continued to search for missing family members late into the night. Rajesh from Kasganj district sought his mother, while Shivam searched for his paternal aunt, both showing pictures of their relatives on their phones.

Anshu and Pabal Kumar, in a pick-up truck loaded with empty milk containers, hoped to find Gopal Singh, a missing family member who had attended the event for the first time. Meena Devi, who lost her mother, Sudama Devi (65), sat outside the Bagla Combined District Hospital, where scores of bodies were kept. Vinod Kumar Suryavanshi, from Barse village, lost his 72-year-old maternal aunt but his mother survived. He had been waiting for hours for his aunt’s body to undergo a post-mortem.

Many bodies were kept at the district hospital, while others were at the Sikandrarau trauma centre and the government hospital in Etah district. Rajesh, struggling to find an ambulance for his mother’s body, made frantic inquiries with police officials. Workers and volunteers from RSS and Bajrang Dal distributed water and offered guidance to the victims’ relatives.

Scenes of chaos and heartbreak were evident outside the Sikandara Rao Trauma Centre, where a woman sat crying among several bodies in a truck. Eyewitnesses described the stampede, which occurred as people left the venue, exacerbated by a road built on a height over a drain, leading to people falling on top of each other. Muddy and slippery conditions contributed to the tragedy, with inadequate arrangements and police presence cited as contributing factors.

The Uttar Pradesh government announced that an FIR will be registered against the event organizers. Agra’s additional director general of police and the Aligarh divisional commissioner will lead the investigation, with a report due in 24 hours. District Magistrate Ashish Kumar stated that while the local administration provided external security, internal arrangements were the responsibility of the organizers.