Hathras Stampede: Causes Of Death Range From Grievous Chest Injuries To Asphyxia, Autopsies Reveal

The post-mortem reports of the Hathras stampede victims revealed that some of them died due to blood accumulation in the thoracic cavity caused by chest injuries when they got trampled.

Hathras Stampede: The causes of death in the Hathras stampede tragedy which claimed 121 lives on Tuesday, range from grievous chest injuries, rib injuries, to asphyxia, the autopsies of some of the victims revealed on Wednesday.

Bodies of 21 victims of the Hathras tragedy were brought for post-mortem to the S N Medical College and Hospital in Agra on Wednesday.

The post-mortem reports of the victims revealed that some of them died due to blood accumulation in the thoracic cavity caused by chest injuries when they got trampled during the stampede. Many other died due to asphyxiation and broken ribs due, the reports informed.

A senior health official said people died due to blood accumulation in the thoracic cavity, asphyxia and rib injuries, according to autopsy reports.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Arun Srivastava said 21 bodies of people from Mathura, Agra, Pilibhit, Kasganj and Aligarh, etc., were brought to the S N Medical College and Hospital and a team of doctors conducted autopsies.

Family members of the victims started gathering at the post-mortem house on Tuesday night as the bodies began arriving there. The bodies were handed over to the victims’ family after post-mortem examination.

Hathras stampede

On Tuesday, a stampede broke out at a ‘satsang’ by self-styled godman Bhole Baba in Phulrai village of Hathras district, which snuffed out 116 lives, most of them women, on the day itself. According to eyewitness accounts, the stampede broke out when people ran after preacher’s car to collect ‘Charan Dhull’ (dust of feet), as the Baba started to leave the venue.

Reports said the people slipped in the slush as they scrammed after the godman’s car, leading to a stampede which left 121 people dead.

“There was a Satsang of Bhole Baba going on. Right after the Satsang finished, several people started coming out from there. A stampede took place as the road was uneven and people fell on each other,” said an eyewitness who survived the stampede.

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced a judicial probe into the Hathras tragedy while the state police have lodged 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.

(With PTI inputs)