The toll in the stampede during a 'satsang' here rose to 121 on Wednesday as police registered an FIR against the organisers for alleged destruction of evidence and negligence in adhering to stipulations. The tragic ended in Phulrai village where religious preacher Bhole Baba was holding a congregation. Families were still in shock over the sudden loss of their near and dear ones and were seen thronging hospitals, looking for their missing relatives, identifying bodies and attending to the injured.
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath visited the injured and met them in district hospitals for discussions with officials to take stock of the situation. An inquiry team headed by ADG Agra and the Aligarh Divisional Commissioner has been charged with finding out the cause of the stampede; the report is likely soon.
The Office of Relief Commissioner said another 28 people were injured, while only four of the 121 dead remained unidentified. 116 women and seven children were among the dead, as was one man.
The FIR, lodged at the Sikandar Rau police station, named 'Mukhya sevadar' Devprakash Madhukar and other organizers, accusing them of offenses including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to commit culpable homicide, disobedience of public servant orders. Indeed, misrepresentation of the number of attendees, not cooperating in traffic management, and tampering with evidence post-incident on the part of the organisers have been alleged.
Doctors explained that most of the victims died from asphyxia because of compression, so it was not that great of a way to go. A somber trail of grief and confusion followed for families in the wake of the tragedy—or at least the need to make sense of what happened.
The mourning was not without its stories of personal loss, like that of Satyendra Yadav, a Delhi-based driver who lost his three-year-old son Rovin in the stampede. Many families, like that of Kaavya and Ayush from Jaipur, traveled together only to face unimaginable tragedy.
This is exactly what the more unfortunate ones go through," said Rajkumari Devi from Unnao, recounting the ordeal. The heartache of being left behind, the uncertainty of the fate of missing loved ones in the mess, is a fact.
Carefully watching the probe into the tragedy, the families are trying to come to terms with the colossal loss and too many unanswered questions.
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