At least 116 people have been killed in a crush at a religious gathering in northern India, police inspector Gen Shalabh Mathur has said.<\/p>\n
The incident took place at a satsang (a Hindu religious event) in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh state.<\/p>\n
The victims, including a large number of women and some children, are still being identified.<\/p>\n
Survivors have described how the disaster unfolded as they tried to leave the event in Mughalgarhi village.<\/p>\n
It is not yet clear what led to the crush. Witnesses said the exit was too narrow and when people were leaving, a fierce dust storm led to confusion and panic, causing many people to become trampled.<\/p>\n
An eyewitness, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC everything was “going fine”, until “all of a sudden I heard screams and before I knew it, people were falling on each other”.<\/p>\n
“Many were crushed and I couldn’t do much. I am just lucky to have survived.”<\/p>\n
“When the sermon finished, everyone started running out,” a woman named only as Shakuntala told the Press Trust of India news agency.<\/p>\n
“People fell in a drain by the road. They started falling one on top of the other and got crushed to death.”<\/p>\n
Umesh Kumar Tripathi, chief medical officer from the neighbouring district of Etah, told reporters the “stampede” had left at least three children dead.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for a senior police officer in Uttar Pradesh told the BBC it would “take hours to release the final tally”.<\/p>\n
Distressing images from the site are being circulated online. Some videos showed the injured being taken to hospitals in pick-up trucks, tuk tuks and even motorbikes.<\/p>\n
A clip seen by the BBC showed several bodies left at the entrance of a local hospital as relatives screamed for help.<\/p>\n
“Such a huge accident has happened but not a single senior officer is present here,\u201d a relative in another video said. \u201cWhere is the administration?”<\/p>\n
Mr Kumar said the venue had been overcrowded, adding that a high-level committee had been formed to investigate the incident.<\/p>\n
“The primary focus of the administration is to provide all possible help to the injured and kin of the deceased,” he said.<\/p>\n
A video shared by news agency PTI showed the wounded being brought to a hospital for treatment.<\/p>\n
“Procedure of post-mortem is under way and the matter is being investigated,” official Satya Prakash in the neighbouring district of Etah said.<\/p>\n
In Hathras, the screams of distraught family members can be heard in the local hospital.<\/p>\n
Many people are trying to find their loved ones, many bodies are unclaimed.<\/p>\n
There is a shortage of ambulances \u2013 each one is bringing two to three bodies. Hathras is filled with despair and pain.<\/p>\n
Accidents are routinely reported at religious events in India, as huge crowds gather in tight spaces with little adherence to safety measures.<\/p>\n