Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

India stampede survivors recall the horror

Officials suggested the stampede was triggered when worshippers tried to gather soil from the footsteps of the preacher

India stampede survivors recall the horror

SURVIVORS of India's deadliest stampede in more than a decade recalled on Wednesday the horror of being crushed at a vastly overcrowded Hindu religious gathering where 121 people were killed.

A police report said more than 250,000 people attended the event in northern India's Uttar Pradesh state, more than triple the 80,000 for whom organisers had permission.


Discarded clothing and lost shoes were scattered across the muddy site, an open field alongside a highway, on Wednesday morning hours after the event.

People fell on top of each other as they tumbled down a slope into a water-logged ditch, witnesses said.

"Everyone - the entire crowd, including women and children - all left from the event site at once," said police officer Sheela Maurya, 50, who had been on duty Tuesday as a popular Hindu preacher delivered a sermon.

"There wasn't enough space, and everyone just fell on top of each other."

Almost all the dead were women. Dozens more were injured.

Officials suggested the stampede was triggered when worshippers tried to gather soil from the footsteps of the preacher, while others blamed a dust storm for sparking panic.

Some fainted from the force of the crowd before falling and being trampled, unable to move.

Forensic officers scoured the site on Wednesday searching for evidence.

Uttar Pradesh's state disaster management centre, the Office of the Relief Commissioner, released a list of the dead on Wednesday morning.

It said 121 people had been killed.

'Crushed'

Maurya, who had been on duty since early morning on Tuesday in the sweltering, humid heat at the preacher's ceremony, was among the injured.

"I tried to help some women but even I fainted and was crushed under the crowd," she told AFP.

"I don't know, but someone pulled me out, and I don't remember much."

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.

"The main highway next to the field was packed with people and vehicles for kilometres, there were far too many people here," said Hori Lal, 45, who lives in Phulrai Mughalgadi village, near the site of the stampede.

"Once people started falling to the side and getting crushed, there was just chaos."

Chaitra V., divisional commissioner of Aligarh city in Uttar Pradesh state, initially said panic began when "attendees were exiting the venue when a dust storm blinded their vision, leading to a melee".

The initial police report into the deaths said it began when "followers started to collect earth" from the path of the preacher as he left the venue.

Maurya said she had worked at several political rallies and large events in the past but had "never seen such huge numbers".

"It was very hot, even I fell there and I survived with great difficulty", she added.

'Heart-rending'

Four unidentified bodies lay on the floor of a makeshift morgue at the hospital in the nearby town of Hathras at dawn on Wednesday.

Ram Nivas, 35, a farmer, said he was searching for his sister-in-law Rumla, 54, who was missing after the crush.

"We haven't been able to find her anywhere," Nivas said after he had visited all the nearby hospitals throughout the night.

"We just hope she's still alive," he said quietly. "Maybe just lost."

In the hospital's emergency ward, Sandeep Kumar, 29, sat next to his injured sister, Shikha Kumar, 22.

"After the event ended, everyone wanted to exit quickly, and that is what led to the stampede," Sandeep said.

"She saw people fainting, getting crushed."

Religious gatherings in India have a grim track record of deadly incidents caused by poor crowd management and safety lapses. (AFP)

More For You

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

FILE PHOTO: Keir Starmer (L) with Narendra Modi. (Photo: Getty Images)

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

INDIA's prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the UK by the end of this month for a visit that could see both sides formally sign the landmark India-UK free trade agreement and explore ways to expand bilateral ties in the defence and security sphere, diplomatic sources said.

Both sides are in the process of finalising the dates for Modi's visit to the country by the end of July or the first part of August, they said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

Rishi Sunak. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

FORMER prime minister Rishi Sunak has returned to the banking world as senior adviser at Goldman Sachs group, with plans to donate his salary to the education charity he recently established with his wife Akshata Murty.

The US-headquartered multinational investment bank, where Sunak worked before entering politics, made the announcement on Tuesday (8) after the requisite 12-month period elapsed since the British Indian leader's ministerial term concluded following defeat in the general election on July 4 last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London.

Getty Images

Post Office scandal linked to 13 suicides, says inquiry

Highlights:

 
     
  • Public inquiry finds up to 13 suicides linked to wrongful Post Office prosecutions.
  •  
  • Horizon IT system faults led to false accusations, financial ruin, and imprisonment.
  •  
  • Sir Wyn Williams says Post Office maintained a “fiction” of accurate data despite known faults.

A PUBLIC inquiry has found that up to 13 people may have taken their own lives after being wrongly accused of financial misconduct by the Post Office, in what is now described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK ramps up drought response following driest spring

The EA has begun conducting more compliance checks on high-usage industries

Getty Images

UK ramps up drought response following driest spring since 1893

Key points

  • Spring 2025 was England’s driest and warmest in over 130 years
  • Reservoirs across England only 77% full, compared to 93% average
  • Environment Agency increases monitoring and drought planning
  • North-west England officially declared in drought

Water conservation measures stepped up ahead of summer

The UK government has increased efforts to manage water resources after confirming that England experienced its driest and warmest spring since 1893. The Environment Agency (EA) reported that reservoirs were on average only 77% full, significantly lower than the usual 93% for this time of year.

The announcement came after a National Drought Group meeting on Thursday, which reviewed the impact of continued dry weather on crops, canal navigation, and river flows. Poor grass growth and dry soil conditions were noted as threats to food production and livestock feed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Norman Tebbit

Following Thatcher’s third general election victory in 1987, Tebbit stepped back from frontline politics to care for his wife. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Former minister, Thatcher ally Norman Tebbit dies at 94

Norman Tebbit, a close ally of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and a former Conservative Party cabinet minister, has died at the age of 94. His son William confirmed the news on Tuesday.

"At 11:15 pm on 7th July, 2025, Lord Tebbit died peacefully at home aged 94," William Tebbit said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less