OVER 100 KILLED IN STAMPEDE AT RELIGIOUS GATHERING

At least 116 people, many of them women and children, have died in a stampede at a religious gathering in northern India, officials have said.

More than 80 others were taken to hospitals after the crush in a village in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, roughly 125 miles southeast of the country's capital New Delhi.

One official told broadcaster India Today that there was "wet mud" at one spot, which may have caused people to slip, and people may have been heading for water in the heat.

The district's administrator Ashish Kumar said the incident happened "due to overcrowding at the time when people were trying to leave the venue".

Initial reports suggested more than 15,000 people had gathered for the event, which had permission to host around 5,000.

Video recorded by news agency ANI showed bodies placed in the back of trucks and laid out in vehicles.

'People falling on each other'

An unidentified witness told India Today there was a narrow exit at the venue: "As we tried to exit towards a field, suddenly a commotion started, and we didn't know what to do."

Another survivor, Jyoti, told local media the stampede occurred as soon as the event ended.

She said: "There was no way out and people were falling on each other."

The country's defence minister Rajnath Singh described the incident as "extremely painful".

"My deepest condolences to the bereaved families of those who have lost their loved ones in this accident," he wrote in a post on X.

"Along with this, I wish for the speedy recovery of all the injured. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is providing all possible help to all the victims."

Stampedes relatively common

Deadly stampedes are relatively common during Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with few safety measures.

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In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in central Madhya Pradesh state trampled each other amid fears a bridge would collapse.

At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river.

In 2011, more than 100 people died in a crush at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.

2024-07-02T13:00:05Z dg43tfdfdgfd