Hathras stampede: What went wrong? Unexpected crowd surge, chaos & sudden rush towards exit

AGRA: It was a catastrophe in the making at the religious event in Hathras on Tuesday as a large crowd began to surge forward in extreme hot and humid conditions to get close to preacher Bhole Baba for his blessings. Multiple eyewitness accounts revealed the event to be chaotic and "people fell over each other in their urgency to exit".
A young woman, who was among the injured, said that several women and children fell on to the ground and couldn't get up due to the heavy rush, only to be crushed under the feet of the surging crowd, while cries of anguish filled the air."It was a horrific scene of panic and chaos at the religious gathering," another witness said.
The incident occurred at the conclusion of a spiritual discourse by the preacher, as the massive crowd began to disperse in haste while few devotees ran to touch feet of the storyteller (kathavachak).
Locals said the scale of the gathering was unprecedented, with attendees from various states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana at the tent venue.
'It was a horrific scene of panic and chaos'
The parking area was located within a 3-km radius, and narrow exit routes were unable to accommodate the large influx of people, the locals added.
Agra district resident Shyam Singh who was at the event said the main reason for the stampede was that the convoy of Bhole Baba was passing by and the crowd suddenly stopped. "Once the satsang ended around 12.30pm, the crowd was stopped and Bhole Baba was being taken out through the back door. There was a deep pit there when some people, trying to take Baba's blessings, fell into it, and a stampede broke out. People kept passing by and trampling on each other. Many people died after falling into the pit," he said. "As the weather condition was extremely humid and sultry, the devotees were eager to exit the place which turned into a major stampede," added Kumar Ranjeet from Kasganj.
Hathras DM Ashish Kumar said that the organisers had taken permission from the SDM for the religious programme, but the crowd was more than expected. "Most of the victims were from Hathras and Etah," the DM added.