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Hathras stampede: Yogi Adityanath visits Ground Zero, meets injured in hospital
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath also meets eyewitnesses at Hathras Police Lines to gather information about the incident
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday visited Hathras where 121 people were killed in a stampede at a satsang (discourse) on Tuesday afternoon, met the injured at the district hospital and spoke to their family members.
He also met the families of the deceased, obtained information about the accident, and expressed his condolences.
Upon his arrival at the Circuit House in Hathras, Yogi gathered information about the situation from the officials and gave necessary guidelines. He then rushed to Hathras District Hospital to check on the injured, instructing doctors to ensure they received proper treatment. The chief minister also visited the incident site amid heavy rain, where officials briefed him about the details, said a government spokesperson.
The stampede occurred on Tuesday during a religious preacher Bhole Baba’s satsang programme in Sikandrarau, Hathras, resulting in the loss of 121 lives.
Yogi had promptly sent a team consisting of three ministers, the chief secretary and the DGP to Hathras. He asked additional DG, Agra, Anupam Kulshreshta and Aligarh divisional commissioner Chaitra V to investigate the incident, directing them to submit a report within 24 hours.
Earlier in the day, the chief minister met eyewitnesses at Police Lines to gather information about the incident. A woman constable on duty described the chaotic scene at the satsang to the CM, explaining how the stampede caused people to fall on top of each other, with a significant number of women being affected. Despite their attempts to get up, they could not do so as more women continued to fall, she added.
Those who accompanied the chief minister were state BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary, Uttar Pradesh ministers Lakshmi Narayan Chaudhary, Asim Arun and Sandeep Singh, as well as local MLA, chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and principal secretary to the chief minister Sanjay Prasad.
After visiting the injured, Yogi went to Sikandrarau in Hathras, where the stampede occured. The Aligarh divisional commissioner briefed the chief minister in detail about the events leading up to the accident.
200,000 PEOPLE GATHERED IN TENT, CROWD SURGED FORWARD TO TOUCH BHOLE BABA’S FEET: SDM’S REPORT
The subdivisional magistrate of Sikandrarau has submitted his investigation report on the Hathras incident to the district magistrate . The report states that over 200,000 devotees were in the pandal (tent) during the satsang. After the satsang ended, the crowd surged forward to have a darshan of Narayan Sakar Hari (Bhole Baba) and touch his feet.
When the devotees rushed towards his vehicle, Bhole Baba and his personal security personnel (commandos) and sevadars began pushing and shoving the crowd, the report said, adding this caused some people to fall. The crowd then moved towards the open field in front of the venue, where people slipped and fell due to the slope while descending from the road to the field.
Unable to get back up, those who had fallen were trampled as the crowd scattered. Many women, men, and children were killed or seriously injured. The injured were immediately transported to nearby hospitals and community health centres by police security personnel using ambulances and other available means.
