Over 24 persons were killed and 60 injured in a stampede at Rajghat bridge near Varanasi in UP on Saturday.
The stampede broke out while followers of “Baba Jai Gurudev” were going for a ‘samagram’ via Rajghat bridge. The injured have been taken to nearby hospitals.
UP CM Akhilesh Yadav has announced compensation to kins of those killed and 50,000 to those critically injured.
The incident took place as people were brought for the camp in large numbers whereas permission was taken for a limited number of people, ADG (law and order) Daljit Chaudhary said in Lucknow.
“One person died of suffocation because of the surging crowd on the narrow bridge. This led to rumours, which resulted in the stampede,” Mr. Chaudhary said, adding that the number of casualties could go up.
The spokesman of Jai Gurudev Sansthan, Raj Bahadur, said that the devotees were going towards the camp on the bridge but the police started sending them back even though the inflow on the bridge was not stopped.
This led to rumours that the bridge ahead has collapsed, which led to the stampede, he said, alleging that there was a serious lapse on the part of the administration.
Modi took to twitter as well.
He also assured help to the victims and their families.
(With inputs from PTI)
(Feature image source: Twitter/ANI)