Hathras stampede: As ‘Bhole Baba’ alias Narayan Saakar Hari or Suraj Pal Singh was leaving the 'satsang' venue in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh in his car, a scene of chaos could be seen as a sea of devotees began running towards it. A video shows moments before the stampede that left 121 dead took place on Tuesday. Among the 121 dead were 112 women and seven children, while 31 were injured.
The devotees, in the video, can be seen shouting and rushing behind the self-proclaimed godman's car, crushing others still seated.
According to Reuters, some of those were trampled after falling in an adjacent field of slush and mud. In a letter to the district administrator, a junior official present at the ‘satsang’ had said the commotion began when devotees running towards the vehicle were stopped by the preacher's staff, many of them falling to the ground.
Some devotees ran towards open fields nearby to escape the stampede but slipped and fell in the path of the rest of the crowd, the official added.
In a video doing rounds on social media, the devoted participants at the packed venue were seen happily engaging in the ‘satsang’, chanting, clapping, and waving their hands in the air. Two women could also be seen hanging from a pole to get a better view of Bhole Baba.
The video shows how calm and happy the devotees were moments before the greatest tragedy of their lives.
Despite the permission for only 80,000 people, about 2,50,000 devotees were gathered at the ‘satsang’ venue, according to an initial police report.
Most of the deaths resulted from suffocation, said doctors at a district hospital treating several victims.
"The injured are fewer because ... if you get caught in a stampede, the injuries will mostly be fractures, scratches, or body pain, so most people got up and left," said Neeta Jain, who is in charge of its emergency ward.
