'Left With Nothing, Couldn't Even Find Mother's Body': Man Who Lost 3 From Family In Hathras Horror

Hathras: Absorbed in devotional tune, little the devotees of Uttar Pradesh's Hathras knew about the disaster they would face at the prayer meeting organised by the self-styled godman, Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari. 

Vinod, a common man, who lost everything in the ‘Satsang,' was left with nothing but to express grief over the loss of his wife, mother and 16-year-old daughter in the Hathras stampede. Such was the unfavourable condition, that Vinod couldn't even find his mother's body. 

"I did not even know that all three had gone to the Satsang because I had gone somewhere outside. Someone told me that there was a stampede in the satsang after which I reached the spot and found out that my 16-year-old daughter, mother and wife had died. I could not even find my mother's body."

"I am left with nothing... everything is gone," Vinod added.

Similar to Vinod, the mother of another 16-year-old victim of the Hathras tragedy found herself wailing over the death of her daughter Roshni. Expressing her grief, Kamla said that everything was unexpected and a horror. 

“I have been coming to Baba's satsang for 20 years. Today, I went to attend satsang with my 16-year-old daughter and a stampede broke out around 2 in the afternoon. I and my daughter were slightly injured. She was fine but as soon as she reached the hospital, she fell unconscious, later the doctors declared her dead.”

Kunwar Pal, another mourner who is the uncle of the deceased 3.5-year-old child, said, "The child had come here with his mother...His mother is still missing...We are a resident of Aligarh."

Meanwhile, the husband of the deceased Gudiya Devi, Mehtab said, "I tried to stop her from attending the Baba's Satsang many times but she did not listen. She had come for the Satsang with our daughter & two neighbouring women. The two neighbouring women and my wife died in the incident...My daughter is safe..."

Heera Lal from Aligarh, a family member of a victim, said, "My entire family travelled in a bus to attend Satsang. All his family members are fine except his sister-in-law who got injured in the stampede."

Hathras Horror Claimed 121 Lives 

A stampede that broke out at a religious event in Hathras on Monday claimed 121 lives and left many others injured, said officials said. Notably, ‘Bhole Baba’ has gone absconding.

Earlier, police conducted a search operation at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri district in search of 'Bhole Baba', who conducted a Satsang in Hathras where a stampede took place on Tuesday.

"We did not find Baba ji inside the campus...He is not here..." said Deputy SP Sunil Kumar. The Uttar Pradesh government has announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to the kin of those who died in the incident.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also ordered a thorough investigation into the incident. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in the stampede in Hathras and wished speedy recovery to the injured.

CM Yogi, who visited the stampede site earlier in the day, addressed a press briefing and said, "I visited the site of the incident to see the initial arrangements of the causes of the accident and our 3 ministers were camping there since yesterday. Senior officers of the police and administration are already there. Further action is also being taken in the direction of fixing the accountability of those responsible for this entire incident, in which their proceedings will now begin in different districts and after the initial investigation, we will work to take further action forward."

He assured the victims that the state government would bear the education expenses of the children who lost their parents in the tragedy. “The minor children of the innocent people who became victims of this incident, who are school students, will be facilitated in their education under Uttar Pradesh Mukhyamantri Bal Seva Yojana," he said.