At least 27 dead in stampede during religious gathering in northern India

Several more injured in the incident at Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district, with officials fearing the toll could rise.

At least 27 people have died in a stampede during a religious event in Hathras district of India’s Uttar Pradesh state, officials and local media reports say.

“We have received 27 bodies so far… bodies are still coming,” the northern state’s senior medical officer Ram Mohan Tiwari told AFP news agency on Tuesday.

Crowds had gathered to celebrate the Hindu deity Shiva at a village in Hathras, some 140km (87 miles) southeast of New Delhi.

Police in Hathras said the dead included 23 women, three children and a man. He said more than 150 people were admitted to hospitals after the crush, adding the death toll may rise.

“Many injured have also been admitted,” Umesh Kumar Tripathi, the district’s chief medical officer, told reporters. “The primary reason is a stampede during a religious event.”