Kripaluji Maharaj Ashram Stampede

LUCKNOW, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- 63 people were killed in a stampede at Kripaluji Maharaj Ashram on Thursday. It is likely that a free lunch and utensil promise had triggered the rush of crowd at the gates of Kripaluji Maharaj Ashram. The mishap took place when a huge crowd of devotees gathered at the Kripaluji Maharaj Bhakti Dham Ashram attending the annual ‘bhandara’ which is a free lunch offering service that is being hosted and provided by a Hindu spiritual guru, Kripaluji Maharaj on account of his wife’s death anniversary. It is during this very ceremony that thousands of followers and devotees are offered free lunch along with utensils.

The rescue parties who ushered in at the earliest note believes that the free lunch offering at the “bhandara ” is the sole cause for such a massive stampede to have taken place. Chief Minister Mayawati was also informed about the mishap and special officials came in to inspect the situation. Kripaluji Maharaj himself had come down to look after the whole situation.

The death count as officially announced is expected to increase as there are several other people who are injured in the Kripaluji Maharaj Ashram stampede and their chances of recovery are negative. People had started to run about all the way in sheer panic as the ashram’s gates had being pulled down during the food distribution. The huge rush forcibly made the way inside to get hands on to the free lunch that made the situation worsen by every minute. Besides the 60 killed, 30 were believed to be injured severely that included many women and children.