Vinod, who lost his wife, mother and 16-year-old daughter in the Hathras stampede, expressed his grief over the incident, saying that he lost everything.
Speaking to ANI, Vinod said, “I did not even know that all three had gone to the Satsang because he had gone somewhere outside. Someone told him that there was a stampede in the satsang after which I reached the spot and found out that my 16-year-old daughter, mother and wife had died. I could not even find my mother’s body.”
“I am left with nothing… everything is gone,” Vinod added.
Kamla, the mother of another 16-year-old victim of the Hathras tragedy, expressed grief over the death of her daughter Roshni. She said, “I have been coming to Baba’s satsang for 20 years. Today, I went to attend satsang with my 16-year-old daughter and a stampede broke out around 2 in the afternoon. I and my daughter were slightly injured. She was fine but as soon as she reached the hospital, she fell unconscious, later the doctors declared her dead.”
Kunwar Pal, uncle of the deceased 3.5-year-old child, said, “The child had come here with his mother…His mother is still missing…We are a resident of Aligarh…”
Meanwhile, the husband of the deceased Gudiya Devi, Mehtab said, “I tried to stop her from attending the Baba’s Satsang many times but she did not listen. She had come for the Satsang with our daughter & two neighbouring women. The two neighbouring women and my wife died in the incident…My daughter is safe…”
Heera Lal from Aligarh, a family member of a victim, said, “My entire family travelled in a bus to attend Satsang. All his family members are fine except his sister-in-law who got injured in the stampede.”
The stampede occurred at a religious event in Hathras on Tuesday, in which 116 people were killed and 18 people were injured, officials said.
Earlier, police conducted a search operation at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri district in search of ‘Bhole Baba’, who conducted a Satsang in Hathras where a stampede took place on Tuesday.
“We did not find Baba ji inside the campus…He is not here…” said Deputy SP Sunil Kumar.
The Uttar Pradesh government has announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to the kin of those who died in the incident.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in the stampede in Hathras and wished speedy recovery to the injured.PM Modi also spoke with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath following the tragic incident.
“The Uttar Pradesh government is engaged in providing all possible help to the victims. My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I wish for the speedy recovery of the injured,” PM Modi said in a post on X.