"He Said He'll Help": Rahul Gandhi Meets Hathras Stampede Victims' Families

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday morning reached Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to meet with the families of the people affected by the July 2 stampede.

Enroute to Hathras, Gandhi also stopped in Aligarh and met with families of the victims of the tragedy that took place at a religious 'satsang' event in in Fulari village in which 123 people were killed.

Bodies of all the 123 people who died in the stampede at the event of the self-styled godman Suraj Pal alias 'Bhole Baba' have been identified and handed over to their families.

The Congress MP arrived in Hathras to meet the family of the stampede victims.

After meeting with the Congress MP, a member of a bereaved family said that there was no proper medical facility or arrangements at the venue.

"He (Rahul Gandhi) assured us that he will help us in every possible way through his party. The administration at the 'Satsang' venue was not good. My sister-in-law could have been saved if there was a proper medical facility. There were no proper arrangements at the venue," she said.

Another woman said that Rahul Gandhi has assured all possible help.

"He said that he'll help. Have patience. My mother and brother died in the incident," she said.

Nitin Kumar, the son of Shanti Devi said that he went to the Satsang with his mother but got separated from her during the incident.

"My mother died. Her name was Shanti Devi. We went to the Satsang together. We were separated during the Satsang. I came out of the event earlier. When the Satsang was over I heard that stampede had occurred. I went there to find my mother. After some time I came to know that my mother was taken to the hospital in the ambulance. My brother went to the hospital and saw that she was dead," he said.

When asked about what Rahul Gandhi said about providing help, Nitin said, "He asked about our well-being and assured us of help of all kinds. We have also asked him to raise this issue in Parliament so that such kind of incidents do not repeat."

Lata, the daughter of Shanti Devi said that they had been waiting for Rahul Gandhi since morning but he didn't come to their house. Instead, some of their family members were called to someone's else house to meet the Congress MP.

Talking to ANI, Lata said, "We have been waiting for Rahul Gandhi since morning. All the women of the family wanted to meet him and share their pain, but he did not come here. He should have come here. Some members of our family were called to someone's else house, but we wanted him to come to our house as there had been a death in our house too."

Jitendra, another son of Shanti Devi thanked Rahul Gandhi for visiting Aligarh.

"We were called to someone else house to meet Rahul Gandhi. He asked about our well-being. I thanked him for visiting us. He said that he'll help from his side and the government side. Although, he should have come to our house also," he said.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Police conducted a search operation at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri on Thursday for the self-styled godman.

An FIR has been registered in the incident, naming organizers of the event.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mainpuri Sunil Kumar said yesterday that 'Bhole Baba was not found inside his ashram.

Superintendent of Hathras City, Rahul Mithas also said that they did not find the preacher in the ashram.

On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited the site of the tragedy and ordered a judicial probe into the incident.

A three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission under the chairmanship of Justice (retd) Brijesh Kumar Srivastava has been constituted to ensure comprehensiveness of the subject matter and transparency in the inquiry.

The Judicial Commission will investigate the stampede incident over the next two months and submit its report to the State Government.

As per the prima facie report, the stampede took place when devotees rushed to seek blessings and collect soil from around the preacher's feet, but were stopped from doing so by his security personnel. They then started pushing one another due to which several people fell down triggering chaos at the site.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)