The death toll from a stampede at a Hindu religious gathering in northern India has risen to 121, news agency ANI reported on Wednesday, where a police report said the number of people present was more than triple the organizers had permission for.
The stampede on Tuesday was at the religious event in a village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh state, about 200 km southeast of New Delhi, where police had given permission for 80,000 people to gather, according to the document, the first information report.
Around 250,000 people attended the event, according to the police report reviewed by Reuters.
At least 121 people were killed and 28 were injured, ANI news agency reported, citing local officials.
The victims included 108 women and seven children, Manoj Kumar Singh, Uttar Pradesh state's chief secretary, told reporters.
The document described a scene of utter chaos when the preacher at the congregation, Surajpal, also known as 'Bhole Baba', was leaving in his car.
Thousands of devotees shouted and ran towards the car, crushing others still sitting in the gathering, according to the document. Some people also fell into an adjacent field of slush and mud and were trampled there.
Local media said the event was organized by a group of devotees, but did not identify anyone. ANI news agency said police were trying to ascertain the whereabouts of the preacher.
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.
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".
But Singh told reporters after visiting the site that worshippers had scrambled to get close to the preacher.
