UAE leaders condole Modi on death of pilgrims in crush

President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a message of condolence to Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, on the victims of the deadly stampede, which occurred at a religious event and resulted in several casualties and injuries, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, sent similar messages to the Indian Prime Minister.

Thousands of devotees rushed to get a closer glimpse of a Hindu preacher, jostling and pushing on slippery ground, witnesses say, moments before a crush at an overcrowded venue in India killed 121 people and sparked a police hunt for the organisers.

The stampede occurred on Tuesday at Phulrai Mughal Garhi village in Hathras district in the populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where preacher Suraj Pal Singh, also known as ‘Bhole Baba’, was holding a monthly congregation.

About 250,000 people had gathered in a canopied ground by a highway, although authorities had given permission for only 80,000, police said.

At least 121 people were killed and 31 injured, with the dead including 112 women and seven children.

The trouble started after the hour-long afternoon congregation concluded and the preacher was leaving the venue in his car, witnesses told reporters on Wednesday.

The entrance and exit of the venue was big enough for 10 or 20 people to move through at the same time “but thousands rushed when Baba’s car left, following his car on foot to get a closer look at him”, said Sankalp Gautam, 22, who was with his aunt Kusum Devi, who was injured in the melee and is in hospital.

The state’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, told reporters that a crowd rushed toward the preacher to touch him as he was descending from the stage, and volunteers struggled to intervene.

An initial report from police suggested that thousands of people then thronged the exits and many slipped on the muddy ground, causing them to fall and be crushed. Most of the dead were women.

The chaos appeared to continue outside the tent when people ran toward the preacher, a Hindu guru known locally as Bhole Baba, as he left in a vehicle. His security personnel pushed the crowd back, causing more people to fall, according to officials.

Police registered a case of culpable homicide against two organizers, but excluded the preacher.

Agencies