Devotees tried to escape into open fields, fell down slippery slope: Sub-divisional magistrate present at Hathras stampede site submits report

As per the report, as the preacher left the venue, devotees rushed towards his vehicle to catch a glimpse of him. Many also tried to collect the ‘Charan Raj’ or the dust left from his feet. As the crowd surged, people who were part of the baba’s personal security tried to push people back but failed, leading to “thaka-mukki (jostling)” and chaos, the report says.

Many devotees then made a desperate attempt to rush towards the open fields in front of the Satsang pandal to save themselves, the report states. But the sloping path from the road to the fields was slippery. Devotees started falling and could not get up as others started stepping over them to reach the fields, the report adds.

“On July 2, 2024, on National Highway 91 from Sikandra Rao to Etah Road, near village Phulari Mugalgari on the south side, a ‘Sat Sang’ event of Narayan Sakar Hari was proposed. I was present on the occasion. In the Pandal of the Satsang, a crowd of over 2 lakh people were present,” Kumar’s report states.

The preacher reached the pandal at around 12.30 pm and the event went on for about one hour. “…Bhole Baba left the pandal around 1.40 pm to go towards National Highway 91 towards Etah. When Bhole Baba took his path outside, men, women and children who had come started putting his Charan Raj on their forehead. There was a huge crowd already waiting to have a glimpse of him on the sides of GT Road as well as on the divider in the centre of the road,” the report adds.

Kumar explains that when the preacher moved ahead, along with the devotees following him, even those standing on the side of the road and the divider started running towards his vehicle to get a glimpse of him. Seeing this, the “personal black commando” and “Sewadar” of the preacher started pushing the crowd back, the report states. Some devotees fell but the crowd continued to push its way forward, leading to chaos, as per the report.

To escape the chaos, the SDM said in his report, devotees tried to make their way to the open fields in front of the pandal but the way to this field was a slippery slope. So when the crowd tried to rush towards the open fields, most devotees fell. As per Kumar’s report, those who fell could not rise again as the crowd from the road started rushing to the field stepping over them, leaving many women, men and children injured.

The injured were rushed to the neighbouring hospitals and the community health centre at Sikandra Rao in ambulances and other vehicles available, with the help of revenue and police officials present at the spot, the report states.

As per Kumar’s report, among the deceased, 89 were declared dead by the health officials locally while the remaining were sent to Etah district for treatment, where they were declared dead. As per his report, 23 people were injured and were being treated in Hathras as well as Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital in Aligarh and also Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh.

In its latest report on the dead and the injured in the stampede, on Wednesday morning, the office of Relief Commissioner, Lucknow, said that the death count has reached 121, out of which six bodies are unidentified. Apart from three men, the deceased are mainly women and some children. Meanwhile, 28 people are being treated at different hospitals.