Hathras stampede: Death toll rises to 121

The death toll in the stampede at a religious congregation in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras has risen to 121, a senior official said on Wednesday.

According to the Office of the Relief Commissioner, the number of people injured in Tuesday's incident stands at 28.

According to a government official, only four of the 121 bodies remained to be identified.

After the stampede, 21 bodies were taken to Agra, 28 to Etah, 34 were in Hathras and 38 in Aligarh, the official said.

"Now one body each in Hathras and Aligarh and two in Etah remain to be identified. All bodies in Agra have been identified," the official told PTI in Hathras.

On Tuesday Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh put the death toll at 116. Barring seven children and a man, all the casualties were women.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday registered an FIR against the organisers of the congregation, accusing them of hiding evidence and flouting conditions with 2.5 lakh people gathering for the event in which only 80,000 were permitted.

However, the congregation or 'satsang' conductor Jagat Guru Saakar Vishwahari's name does not figure in the list of accused in the FIR though his name is in the complaint.

The FIR alleged that the organisers hid the actual number of devotees coming to the 'satsang' while seeking permission, did not cooperate in traffic management and hid evidence after the stampede, which broke out after people gathered there stopped to collect mud from the way the baba's vehicle was passing.

The victims were part of the crowd of thousands that had gathered near Phulrai village in the Sikandrarau area for the 'satsang' by religious preacher Bhole Baba.

The stampede took place at around 3.30 pm when Baba was leaving the venue.