Hathras: People were pushing: Two sisters retell horror of stampede

Hathras:  Two sisters missing in the Hathras stampede incident were found by unknown persons and taken to their house. They were further then taken to the Sikandra Rao Trauma Center in Hathras for further treatment. When asked who had dropped them off, the survivor Taramati said, “We were unconscious. We didn’t know where we were. When I briefly regained consciousness, I told them the address of my granddaughter, so they dropped us off, but we don’t know who dropped us.”

Two sisters from Badampur retell the stampede incident that claimed the lives of more than 120 people. Taramati said, “Someone kept pushing us to reduce the rush at the spot. Because of the continuous pushing, whoever was coming kept falling and a stampede occurred. Five people picked us up with difficulty when we fell. But many people have died; fields are full of bodies of those who lost their lives,” she added.

On being asked if they were fans of ‘Bhole Baba’ alias Surajpal, Taramati’s sister said, “We usually go to religious events (satsang); who knew this would happen to us?”

Both sisters are injured and are currently receiving medical assistance in the hospital. Taramati’s sister said, “I still can’t figure out where I am presently. We are still afraid. When we fell, hundreds of people stepped on us.”

According to our sources, there is no FIR filed against Bhole Baba, or his alias Surajpal, who was the main speaker at the event. Instead, the FIR has been lodged against the organizer, Dev Prakash Madhukar, and others.

The FIR states that the police had permitted 80,000 people to attend, but approximately 2.5 lakh people gathered at the event. Additionally, the FIR alleges that volunteers associated with Surajpal attempted to remove evidence but did not cooperate with the police, resulting in chaos.