At least 116 people, mostly women, were killed in a stampede during a ‘satsang’ (religious gathering) in Hathras district on Tuesday in the worst-ever such tragedy in Uttar Pradesh. Around 50 people were also injured in the incident.

Laxity on the part of the organisers of the ‘Bhola Baba Satsang’ is said to be the cause of the tragedy.

DGP Prashant Kumar, who along with Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh reached here, told reporters that 116 people have lost their lives.

He said an FIR will be registered against the organisers and others.

Earlier, Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar said that 60 people have been confirmed dead at the Community Health Centre (CHC) Hathras, and over 100 injured people have been admitted in different hospitals in Hathras, Etah and Aligarh.

He also said that the death toll may surpass the 100-mark. The bodies of 27 people, including 23 women, are in Etah Medical College hospital.

Religious storyteller Bhole Baba, who came to Hathras for the programme, is a resident of Bahadur Nagar of Patiali in Kasganj district.

His original name is SP Singh and he left the job as a Sub Inspector of police 17 years ago and since then started giving religious sermons.

It is said that SP Singh (Bhole Baba) had started preaching service to humanity during his job. At the same time, Bhole Baba and his followers generally stay away from the media.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials to lodge an FIR against the event organizers and the government officers concerned.

He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. He will visit Hathras on Wednesday, his office said.

Senior Ministers Choudhury Laxmi Narayan and Sandeep Singh along with Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and DGP Prashant Kumar are at the spot to take stock of the situation.

The CM has also directed ADG, Agra, and Divisional Commissioner, Aligarh, to rush at the spot and enquire about the reason behind the incident. The officials will submit the report of the incident in the next 24 hours.

According to an eyewitness, the incident took place after the satsang in Phulrai village located on Etah Road near Sikandrarau town of the district.

The main reason for the stampede was that the convoy of the storyteller (Kathavachak) Bhole Baba, who had come here to tell the religious story, was passing by and the crowd was stopped.

After the satsang ended at around 12.30 pm, the crowd was stopped and Bhole Baba was being taken out through the back door.

There was a deep pit there when some people fell into it, and a stampede broke out. People kept passing by and trampling each other. Many people died after falling into the pit.

As the weather condition was extremely humid and sultry, the devotees were eager to exit the place which turned into a major stampede.

The DM said that the organisers had taken permission from the SDM for the religious programme, but the crowd was more than expected. He said that most of the deceased were residents of Hathras and Etah.

Reports also claimed that over 20,000 people had gathered for the ‘satsang’ while the permission was for merely 5,000 people.

The parking area was in a 3-km radius and devotees from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana were also present.