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How Hathras locals came together in the face of tragedy
Police have lodged an FIR against the organizers of the congregation, accusing them of hiding evidence and flouting conditions
HATHRAS: For 10 days, the village of Phulrai Mughal Garhi in Hathras, waited in anticipation as posters proclaiming a “Bhole Baba” satsang sprang up at every available intersection.
On Tuesday, from early in the morning, in the middle of the fields, a massive tent began to take shape, and buses, private vehicles, even tractors teeming with people descended on the village. The venue abuts a national highway, and a section was completely blocked for traffic, vehicles blocking the road.
Even those that did not know self-styled godman Suraj Pal were curious, watching as devotees poured in. But by 2 pm, they became witnesses, and then first responders to India’s worst stampede in 16 years.
Akash Kumar was one of those that watched from the edge of the road. “We watched the Baba leave, and then saw scores of people falling atop each other. We knew we had to help, and rushed to save them,” Kumar said.
In a matter of minutes, Kumar and other locals like Prashant Yadav faced the daunting task of navigating through a panicked crowd, with many who lay prone on the ground—either unconscious or dead. “All of us started loading unconscious people into two ambulances that were present, but they were obviously not enough for the number of people. Each devotee wore a yellow locket with a small photograph of the baba,” Yadav said.
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As news of the tragedy that has left 121 people dead spread, private ambulance providers from Hathras rushed to the spot, ferrying people to the nearest medical facility. “We carried at least 48 bodies from the spot in 24 ambulances. We couldn’t see injuries on people, but they didn’t seem to be breathing,” said Insaaf, a private ambulance driver.
Eighty-nine of the bodies were brought to the Sikandra Rao Trauma Centre, seven km away from the venue, that found itself besieged by a scale of tragedy it had never seen before. Here too, locals like Sunil Bharti, from the adjacent village of Kheriya Khurd, began to pitch in. “As family members began trickling in, we tried to help in locating their loved ones,” he said.
By Tuesday evening, a makeshift kitchen had sprung to life in the courtyard of the trauma centre, where volunteers brewed pots of tea and coffee. “We cooked at least 30kg of Khichdi on Tuesday evening. We had never seen so many people at our health centre, but the volunteers and health staff rose to the occasion,” said Dr Pawan Kumar, superintendent at the trauma centre.
Forty-km away at the Hathras district hospital, where families gathered anxiously at the hospital gates, they found solace in a steady stream of local residents that arrived to help. “While some offered tea to the family members, others quickly spread the word in the city that any one who can provide food at the hospital should keep it ready by 8 pm,” said Chaudhary Sudan Singh, a tea seller outside the Hathras District Hospital.
By nightfall, residents had collected food from 15 homes, and brought to the hospital, Tarun Pratap Singh, who lives close to the district hospital, said.
