At least 60 dead, scores are injured after a stampede at a religious event in India

LUCKNOW, India. At least 60 people were killed and dozens injured after a stampede at a religious gathering of thousands in northern India, officials said Tuesday.

More than 150 people were admitted to hospitals after the crush in a village in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh state, medical official Umesh Tripathi said, adding that the death toll could still rise.

Government official Ashish Kumar told The Associated Press that at least 60 bodies had arrived at morgues in the district.

The stampede occurred as attendees rushed to leave after an event with a religious leader named Bhole Baba, local media reported.

Police officer Rajesh Singh said overcrowding may have been a factor. Initial reports suggested that more than 15,000 people had gathered for the event which had permission to hold about 5,000.

“People started falling on each other, on top of each other. Those who were crushed died. The people there took them out,” witness Shakuntala Devi told the Press Trust of India news agency.

The stampede took place about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of the state capital, Lucknow. The bodies were taken to hospitals and morgues in trucks and private vehicles, said government official Matadin Saroj.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called the stampede “extremely sad and heartbreaking” in a post on social media platform X. He said authorities were investigating the cause.

Deadly stampedes are relatively common during Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with few security measures.

In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in the central state of Madhya Pradesh trampled each other amid fears a bridge would collapse, and at least 115 were crushed to death or killed in the river.

In 2011, more than 100 Hindu devotees were crushed to death at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.