Religious Gathering
What started as a prosperous religious gathering quickly turned into something way more dangerous and catastrophic, and quickly. Bhole Baba, the guru who was running this event, was delivering speeches to the quarter million people that had arrived to this event.
This number of people was incredibly high, higher than what it was originally thought to be. India is known for deadly stampedes, as this has happened several times within the past several years. Just recently, “In 2022, at least 12 people were killed at the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir after a crowd tried to pass through a narrow entrance,” according to NBC News.
What Exactly Happened?
The number of people was three times higher than what was originally anticipated, and that contributed heavily to the deadly stampede. As Bhole Baba was leaving the venue, many devotees were rushing towards the front to touch his feet, which was a usual tradition in India.
As a result, there were many people that were crushed and killed as a result. There were also children that were killed in this stampede. There were also many more that were injured and are receiving treatment as fast as possible.
Government of India to Make Changes
It is clear that stampedes happen often in the country of India. The government of India needs to make changes in order to ensure that this does not happen anymore in the future. These changes need to happen quickly.
“Crowd crushes at religious gatherings in India are not uncommon, and deadly incidents have made headlines in the past, highlighting the lack of adequate crowd control and safety measures,” according to CNN News. Therefore, due to the fact that this has happened before, and nothing has been done about it, shows the lack of interest that is being shown to this type of tragedy.
Written by David Loran Jr
Sources:
CNN News: ‘Anyone who fell did not get up’: Locals recall chaos and confusion at scene of deadly crush in India
NBC News: Stampede at religious event in India kills more than 100 people, almost all of them women
Featured Image Courtesy of Saint-Petersburg Theological Academy’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Gianni Dominici’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License