At least 100 people were crushed to death at a Hindu religious gathering in northern India on Tuesday, with many others injured, a senior government official said.
A large crowd had gathered near the city of Hathras for a sermon by a popular preacher but a fierce dust storm sparked panic as people were leaving.
Many were crushed or trampled, falling on top of each other, with some collapsing into a roadside drain in the chaos.
“We have confirmed 97 deaths so far and are focusing on providing relief and medical aid for the victims,” Chaitra V., divisional commissioner of Aligarh city in Uttar Pradesh state, told AFP.
“The attendees were exiting the venue when a dust storm blinded their vision, leading to a melee and the subsequent tragic incident,” she said.
The largest number of those dead were women, according to state chief medical officer Umesh Kumar Tripathi, who told reporters “many injured” have been admitted to hospital.
Ambulances arrived at the scene and took the injured to hospitals.
Wailing women and crying men gathered outside one mortuary in the town of Etah, where many of the dead were taken, seeking news of their relatives.
Deadly incidents are common at places of worship during major religious festivals in India, the biggest of which prompt millions of devotees to make pilgrimages to holy sites.
“When the sermon finished, everyone started running out,” Shakuntala, a woman who gave only one name, told the Press Trust of India news agency.
“People fell in a drain by the road. They started falling one on top of the other and got crushed to death.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced compensation of $2,400 to the next of kin of those who died and $600 to those injured in the “tragic incident”.
“My condolences are with those who have lost their loved ones… I wish for the speedy recovery of all the injured,” Modi wrote on social media platform X.
President Droupadi Murmu said the deaths were “heart-rending” and offered her “deepest condolences”.
