‘Shopkeepers did not let anyone in’: Survivors recount Haridwar stampede horror

While Nirmala and her four-year-old daughter sustained injuries, her son, Arush, died in the stampede. He was among eight people killed in the tragedy, which also left 28 injured.

Panic triggered by a rumoured electricity spark is suspected to have caused the stampede in the area leading to the hilltop Mansa Devi temple, where hundreds of devotees had gathered Sunday morning, police said.

IGP (Law and Order) Nilesh Bharne said devotees were moving towards the temple when the incident took place around 9 am. “There was some rumour about electricity hazards, creating panic among the devotees, leading to the situation,” he said.

Panic triggered by a rumoured electricity spark is suspected to have caused the stampede in the area leading to the hilltop Mansa Devi temple, where hundreds of devotees had gathered Sunday morning, police said.

Nirmala and 15 family members had reached Haridwar on Friday to spend the weekend in the temple town. They were to go back home on Sunday evening. She limped towards the hospital exit, after taking a rushed discharge, to get inside the ambulance carrying Arush’s body.

“There were no police, and the shopkeepers did not let anyone in when people panicked. They asked us to leave when the man who saved us took my unconscious son to the shop. Despite letting in several devotees, the ramp was not closed,” she said.

The staff at the temple said the police usually close the ramp when the complex fills with devotees. On Sunday morning, minutes before the incident, a massive rush was observed, but the pedestrian path remained open until the incident took place.

Anita Kumari was around 50 metres away from the spot where the stampede took place. She called Nirmala, her relative who had ventured away from them, but the calls went unanswered. “Later, I got a call from my niece who told me about Arush’s death. This was a preventable tragedy. There was no barricading or crowd control. There should be a cap on the number of pilgrims entering the temple. This should not happen again,” said Kumari. “If someone had alerted us about the crowd above, we would not have embarked on the trek,” she said.

IGP (Law and Order) Nilesh Bharne said devotees were moving towards the temple when the incident took place around 9 am.

Also among the dead was 20-year-old Vicky Saini from Nagaria Kalan village in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur district. Upon hearing the news, Vicky’s family rushed to Haridwar.

“On Saturday, a group of people from our village and nearby areas, including Vicky and his cousin Sachin, left for Uttarakhand to take part in the Kanwar Yatra,” said Chaudhary Lokendra Singh, husband of village pradhan Savita Devi. “They reached Haridwar on Sunday morning. After taking a holy dip in the Ganga, they decided to visit the Mansa Devi temple, which is a common stop for devotees during the yatra.”

Singh said that Sachin, who was also injured in the stampede, called Vicky’s family in Rampur and informed them about what had happened. “He said they were taking Vicky to the hospital in an ambulance. Later, we received the heartbreaking news that Vicky had been declared dead,” said Singh.

Vicky, a second-year college student, was the younger son of Tikaram Saini, an employee at a private firm in Rampur.

The eight people who died in the stampede have been identified as Arush, 8, from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh; Vicky, 18, from Rampur, UP; Shanti, 60, from Badaun, UP; Vakeel, 43, from Barabanki, UP; Vishal, 19, from Rampur, UP; Ram Bharose, 43, from Budaun, UP; Shakal, 18, from Araria, Bihar; and Vipin Saini, 18, from Kashipur, Uttarakhand.

Mansa Devi temple authorities do not keep a count of the number of visitors each day, but staff estimate that around 20,000 people reached the temple between 5 am and 9 am on Sunday. Staff managing the ropeway infrastructure at the temple said that with 27 cable cars, they see a crowd of over 6,000 on most days in Sawan.

At around 8.40 am, Awadhesh (40), who makes food at a stall near the temple, heard screams. “Usually, when there is a rush, the police close the road below, but this morning, they did not. The path remains closed for two hours at a stretch to avoid anything untoward. When the Kanwar Yatra started, there were more police officers and arrangements to regulate the movement, but after July 23, the security deployment and arrangements had gone down,” he said.

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of those who died in Haridwar.

In a statement on X in Hindi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the news of the tragic accident on the Shri Mansa Devi Temple route in Haridwar, resulting in the death of devotees, was extremely painful and deeply distressing. “My heartfelt condolences are with the bereaved families. Officials have been directed to coordinate with the Uttarakhand government and ensure that the mortal remains of the deceased residents of Uttar Pradesh are transported to their respective home districts and handed over to their families. Each family of the deceased from Uttar Pradesh will be provided financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh by the UP government,” he said in the post on X.