Stampede Deaths in India – Why They Keep Happening

On 2 July 2024, a satsang in Fulari village, Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, ended in a crush. At least 121 people died, most of them women. They had come to pray. Nobody had planned how a crowd that size would get out.

What the official numbers say

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has counted stampede deaths every year since 2001 in its report Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India.

• Between 2001 and 2022, 3,074 people died in stampedes in India, according to an analysis of NCRB data by Factly.
• The toll swings wildly from year to year. The worst year was 2011, with 489 deaths. In 2023 the NCRB recorded 32. In 2024 it jumped to 147, in 25 stampede cases.
• Of the 147 people killed in 2024, 128 were women, largely because of Hathras.
• Four states, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, account for about half of all stampede deaths since 2001.

So the honest picture is not a steady rise. It is long quiet stretches broken by sudden disasters, and each one shows the same failures.

Why this matters

Stampedes are not “acts of God”. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) says most crowd disasters are man-made and could be prevented with proper planning and execution. It also notes that most crowd disasters in India have happened at religious places, often on hilltops or narrow, winding paths that vendors make narrower still.

The lesson is forgotten after every tragedy, and so it repeats.

Two myths

“Stampedes happen because people panic.” Panic is a symptom. The real causes are too many people in too little space, exits that are closed or blocked, one-way routes that turn into two-way traffic, and sudden surges when something happens at the front, like a VIP arriving or prasad being handed out.

“People die from being trampled.” Some do, but NDMA says compressive asphyxia has historically been the most common cause of death in crowd disasters. People are squeezed so tightly, often while still standing, that they cannot breathe.

How to stay safe in a big crowd

• Plan your way out first. When you arrive, note at least two exits and an open area you can head for.
• Stay at the edges. The middle and the front, near the stage or the darshan point, are where pressure builds.
• Watch the crowd, not just the event. If you are being pushed so you cannot move your arms freely, or the crowd starts to sway, leave at once while you still can.
• Never push, and never try to go against the flow. Move diagonally across and out of it, a little at a time, towards the edge.
• Keep your arms up in front of your chest, like a boxer, to protect space to breathe.
• Stay on your feet. Do not bend to pick up a dropped slipper, bag or phone.
• If you fall, try to get up immediately. If you cannot, curl on your side with your arms protecting your head.
• Children: hold their hands, dress them in something bright, and put your phone number in their pocket. Better still, keep very young children away from huge crowds.

What organisers and authorities must do

• Estimate the crowd honestly, and cap entry when the venue is full.
• Keep separate entry and exit routes, open and unblocked.
• Put barriers and staff where crowds bunch up: gates, stairs, narrow lanes and the stage.
• Have ambulances, a public address system and trained volunteers ready.
• Follow the NDMA guide Managing Crowd at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering (2014).

Ask your temple, society or event committee

Before the next festival, procession or big function, ask one question: do we have a written crowd management plan, with exits, barriers, volunteers and an ambulance? If not, ask for one, and offer to help write it.

Stampedes are man-made disasters. Planning, and a little awareness from each of us, save lives.