In a tragic turn of events, a religious gathering in India turned deadly as a stampede erupted, claiming the lives of at least 116 people and leaving scores injured on Tuesday. The incident took place in Lucknow, India, where thousands of attendees rushed to leave a makeshift tent after an event with a Hindu guru known as Bhole Baba. Reports suggest that heat and suffocation inside the tent may have triggered the panic, causing the structure to collapse.
Witnesses described a horrifying scene of people falling on top of each other, resulting in numerous casualties, mostly women and children. Distraught relatives wailed as the bodies of the deceased were laid out on stretchers, lining the grounds of a local hospital. The tragic event sheds light on the dangers of overcrowding and lack of safety measures at Indian religious festivals where large crowds gather in cramped spaces with inadequate infrastructure.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and assured assistance to the injured. Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, labeled the stampede as “heart-wrenching” and vowed to launch an investigation. The incident has sparked questions about accountability and the need for better crowd management protocols to prevent such tragedies in the future.
This is not the first time such a disaster has struck in India. In 2013, over 100 pilgrims lost their lives in a stampede during a Hindu festival in Madhya Pradesh, while a similar tragedy claimed over 100 lives at a religious gathering in Kerala in 2011. As authorities delve into the causes of the recent stampede, the nation mourns the loss of lives and contemplates how to prevent such tragedies from recurring.
Reporting from New Delhi, stay tuned for more updates on this developing story.
