'They Fell On Top Of Each Other', Eyewitness Narrates Horrific Ordeals Of Hathras Stampede

Hathras: More than 60 people have lost their lives after a stampede that occurred in a religious event in the Mughalgarhi village of the Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh. The death toll in the stampede continues to rise and over 100 people who are severely injured, are being treated at the hospitals. UP CM Yogi Adityanath has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2lakh for the kin of those who have lost their lives and Rs 50,000 to the injured. 

An eyewitness has narrated the horrific ordeals of the stampede. Eyewitness Shakuntala Devi told PTI Videos that the stampede took place while people were leaving the venue at the end of the ‘satsang’, they fell on top of each other. She said, “After the ‘satsang’ ended, everyone came out. Outside, the road was built on a height with a drain below. One after the other, people started falling into it. Some people got crushed."

Victims, dead or unconscious, were brought to the Sikandara Rao Trauma Centre in trucks and other vehicles. The bodies were laid outside the health centre as people milled around them. One video clip showed a woman crying, sitting among five or six bodies in a truck. Another picture showed a man and a woman lying lifeless in another vehicle. The stampede occurred due to overcrowding, Sikandra Rao police station SHO Ashish Kumar said.

According to officials, a team comprising the Agra additional director general of police and the divisional commissioner of Aligarh will probe the incident. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed condolences to the families of those killed in the stampede and instructed officials to reach the accident site and carry out relief measures. The Uttar Pradesh government said an FIR will be registered against the organisers of the programme.

Adityanath also directed the district administration to arrange for proper treatment of those injured and immediately take them to hospitals. He wished them a speedy recovery. PM Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi are among the many leaders who have offered condolences and have prayed for a speedy recovery of those injured. 

(Inputs from PTI)