Stampede at religious gathering kills 107 in India

On Tuesday (2), around 107 people were crushed to death due to a stampede at a religious gathering in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous. In addition, 150 people were injured and taken to hospitals, which are struggling with demand.

What happened

The event took place in a village in the city of Hathras and was a celebration of the Hindu deity Shiva. According to initial reports, the gathering had a capacity of 5,000 people, but 15,000 ended up attending the gathering. Witnesses said there was only one narrow exit and the stampede occurred as soon as the event ended, when people began to leave. The state police chief said an investigation will be conducted to bring those responsible for the event to book.

The country's defense minister, Rajnath Singh, posted on his X account, formerly Twitter, that the accident was extremely painful and offered condolences to the families of the victims who died in Hathras. He also assured that the local administration is doing everything possible to provide all possible assistance to the injured. According to Reuters, compensation of 200,000 Indian rupees (about R$13,600 reais) will also be given to the families of the dead and 50,000 (about R$3,400 reais) to the injured.

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.#Hathras #HathrasStampede #UttarPradesh pic.twitter.com/VC7jf425ff

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_{Video of the overcrowded religious event that ended with 107 people dead in a crush in India (Video: reproduction/X/@ndtvindia)}

Accidents due to overcrowding are common in the country

India already has a history of accidents caused by overcrowding. In January of this year, 12 children and two adults died after exceeding the capacity of a boat, which capsized on Harni Lake, in the city of Vadodara. In 2023, another tragedy, this time involving a tourist boat, occurred for the same reason and 22 people died. Furthermore, in 2021, the cables of a bridge broke, leading to its collapse, in which 134 people died. The preliminary investigation reported that the accident happened because of the number of people on the bridge.

Featured photo: Ambulance and first responders at the event where the tragedy occurred due to the riot (reproduction/Pawan Sharma/AFP)