Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
At least 100 people have been killed after a stampede at a religious gathering in northern India on Tuesday, in what has become one of the deadliest incidents of its kind in recent years.
Local media reported that 116 people died during the event near a village in Hathras, a district in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. Authorities said that as many as 15,000 devotees — far beyond the permitted amount — had arrived to attend the event by Bhole Baba, a popular local Hindu preacher.
Officials said they expected the death toll to climb as more bodies are brought to hospitals. The stampede began as the event ended after attendees attempting to leave were suffocated.
According to Associated Press, a makeshift tent put up for the event collapsed and local health clinics in the area were quickly overwhelmed by the number of the dead and injured. Most of the victims were reportedly women.
Stampedes at religious gatherings are common in India, with authorities and organisers often ill-prepared to deal with the vast crowds they attract.
More than 100 people died in a stampede during a Hindu festival in Madhya Pradesh in 2013, while more than 200 people were killed at a gathering at a temple in Rajasthan in 2008.
Prime minister Narendra Modi, whose Bharatiya Janata party last month won re-election for a third consecutive five-year term, was addressing the new parliament when the incident happened. “I assure everyone the victims will be helped in every way possible,” he told the house.
Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and one of the BJP’s most high-profile leaders, set up a committee to investigate the cause of the incident and said authorities would register a criminal complaint against the event organisers. He also promised to compensate the families of the dead with Rs200,000 ($2,400) each.
But Akhilesh Yadav, a senior opposition party leader from Uttar Pradesh, attacked the BJP over the incident.
“What was the government doing?” he said, arguing that it was responsible for enforcing safety measures. “So many people died.”