A tragic crowd crush occurred during a religious festival in Mughal Garhi village, Uttar Pradesh, India, resulting in the death of at least 121 people, mostly women. The incident took place at a sermon led by Bhole Baba, a self-styled godman, where overcrowding led to a deadly crush on Tuesday. Police are investigating the organizers, alleging that they allowed more than three times the expected number of people to attend, and that only a few dozen police officers were deployed.
Eyewitnesses described the scene as chaotic and confusing, with people rushing towards the stage to touch Bhole Baba’s feet or collect ground that his car had passed over as he left the ceremony. Relatives of the victims have expressed their grief and anger, blaming the tragedy on carelessness from both the administration and organizers.
The incident has highlighted gaps in the country’s safety measures at such events, and authorities have launched a special investigative team and a judicial inquiry to probe the deadly crush. The state’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, has suggested that the organizers are to blame, stating that they were responsible for managing the security of the devotees.
Bhole Baba, also known as Suraj Pal, has offered condolences to the families of those killed but has blamed the fatal crush on “anti-social elements.” Questions have been raised over the lack of strict crowd control measures in India, a country with a population of 1.4 billion, and the need for preventative measures to be implemented after witnessing earlier incidents.
Opposition politicians have also expressed their concerns over the incident, calling for examinations of conscience and monitoring of crowds to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.
