Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, which made headlines  just a few years in the past for the horrific rape and homicide of a Dalit girl, has been within the information once more. This time for a stampede at a spiritual programme that has value 116 lives. The tragedy remains to be unfolding and most of the devotees are desperately searching for misplaced household and associates.

Suresh, a survivor of the stampede, informed reporters, “I got here right here with my household from Badaun. My brother’s spouse is lacking. We acquired to know that a number of individuals are lacking. I made bulletins within the mic nevertheless it didn’t assist”.

Amongst these lacking is a 15-year-old named Chaya, whose household got here to take part within the satsang from Agra. “I’ve been trying throughout for her. My daughter can’t communicate. She will solely cry,” mentioned her anguished mom.

“There have been six to seven individuals who got here, my daughter is lacking… Nobody informed us the place she was, they mentioned she was right here and there however I could not discover her. The police mentioned they do not know something,” she added.

The police, in reality, have their arms full. Visuals from the native Neighborhood Well being Centre confirmed our bodies nonetheless being introduced in buses and tempos.

The satsang was organised within the honour of an area guru, Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari. After it ended, individuals weren’t allowed to go away till his automotive left, inflicting an enormous build-up of individuals in a small space.

“Many individuals had been on the street, who did not transfer when the satsang was over. A crowd had gathered and folks had been pushing one another. A wire broke and folks had been injured,” one of many eyewitnesses informed reporters.

The excessive variety of attendees can also be a key issue. “Whereas making use of for permission, the organisers had mentioned they had been anticipating round 80,000 individuals. However the variety of attendees was way more,” mentioned the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh.

Within the stampede that adopted, 116 individuals — 106 of them girls and 7 kids – died. Many others are injured and docs are struggling to assist them. Round 35 our bodies are but to be recognized — two of them are of youngsters.

Yet one more survivor mentioned the stampede befell “because the street was uneven and folks fell on one another”.