Stampedes on the Rise: 92 Cases Seen Between 2017-22, 2025 Sees Spike in Deaths

Data: 92 Stampedes Between 2017-2022, Tamil Nadu Worst Impacted

(Source: Kamran Akhter/The Quint) 

At least 10 people have lost their lives in two instances of stampede that occured in North India in the last week alone. As per official National Crime Records Bureau (NRCB) data, India witnessed 92 stampede cases from 2017 to 2022, claiming the lives of at least 128 people.

In contrast, 2025 has seen eight stampedes or "stampede-like" situations which have claimed the lives of more than 85 people.

The most recent instance of stampede came from the Ausaneshwar Mahadev Temple in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh (UP), which was caused after an electric wire came in contact with the devotees on 29 July. It left two worshippers dead and over 30–40 injured.

This was the second stampede that happened in UP this year; the first being the Maha Kumbh stampede.

Four days before this, yet another stampede struck Haridwar's Mansa Devi Temple, claiming the lives of eight people and injuring over 25 devotees on 27 July. This case happened due to an alleged rumour of an electric wire shocking devotees.

Other stampedes that occurred this year are:

• Last month, on 29 June, at least three people lost their lives, and approximately 50 others were injured near Shree Gundicha temple in Puri, Odisha, during a ceremony associated with the annual Rath Yatra celebrations. 

• On 4 June, the celebrations of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s first Indian Premier League (IPL) win also turned tragic as a stampede near the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru resulted in at least 11 deaths and several injuries.

• On 3 May, around seven individuals lost their lives and 80 others were injured in a stampede in Shirgao village, located in North Goa, where devotees gathered at Shree Lairai Devi Temple. 

• On 15 February, a stampede happened at the New Delhi Railway Station, killing at least 18 and injuring 15. 

• On 29 January, another case happened which killed thirty (as per officials) people, with several left wounded and displaced, happened in Prayagraj during the Maha Kumbh mela.

• On 8 January, six people died and several were injured at the Tirumala temple in Tirupati in Tamil Nadu.

With this story, Team WebQoof aims to map the number of stampedes and the number of deaths due to it in the last few years and how accountability and blame was passed on by different authorities.

(Note: The data has been provided by Dataful, by Factly.) 

Stampede Incidents and Related Deaths Between 2017-2022

A total of 92 stampedes occurred between 2017 and 2022, with 2017 having the highest number of cases. 

Out of the 92 incidents, four separate cases have occurred in Tamil Nadu in 2022, 2021, 2019 and 2018. Bihar recorded twenty stampede cases alone in 2017, making it the highest number in India between 2017 and 2022. 

Others places which witnessed stampedes in the mentioned years are, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Kerala, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.

(Hover over the map to check the number of stampedes in said states between 2017-2022. Readers can also search the names of state to find the figures.)

Apart from this, we also checked the number of deaths due to such incidents.

A total of 128 deaths have occurred in India due to stampedes between 2017 and 2022. 

Maharashtra recorded the highest number (2017-2022) when 23 people died in Mumbai at the Elphinstone station foot over bridge stampede in September 2017, in a single year. The Mumbai police had stated a combination of heavy rain, a loud sound and rush hour caused the deadly situation, reported the Times of India. 

Whereas, at 29, Bihar topped the chart with the highest number of stampede related deaths, between 2017 and 2022.

Additionally, according to the NCRB data, Telangana has not documented a single death from stampedes since it was established in 2014.

Blame Game, Little Accountability 

The recent Barabanki stampede in UP also occurred during a religious gathering and was officially attributed by the administration to an electric wire breaking due to monkeys.

However, eyewitnesses 'contradicted' this, telling Aaj Tak that the panic was actually triggered when police used lathis, originally meant to drive away monkeys, resulting in chaos within the crowd. Those hospitalised reported that the temple crowd became unruly, which the police 'could not manage,' noted Aaj Tak.

Drawing parallels to the Haridwar stampede, where a similar electric shock rumour caused mass panic, the Uttarakhand Power Corporation later verified there was no actual issue.

However, 19-year-old deceased Vishal Saini's family member and eyewitness, Vipin Saini told The Quint, "First there was chaos, then a wire snapped and several people got electrocuted. There was panic and people started running. Many were crushed. We both got separated in the crowd. I somehow managed to get out, but Vishal died."

Another eyewitness blamed the administration and said, "My wife also got electrocuted. My sister-in-law was also injured in this stampede, and is currently undergoing treatment at AIIMS Rishikesh."

The UP and Uttarakhand governments announced a compensation for victims’ families and initiated an official inquiry into the incident.

The Kumbh stampede: A stampede broke in the wee hours of 29 January, which claimed the lives of 30 people, as per official reports. However, a BBC report later found that at least 82 people were killed in the stampede.

A report by The Quint also raised questions about the official death toll in the stampede. The Quint's report found that one of the victim's body was marked “No. 54”.

"Apart from the paper, my mother also had the same number written on her hand. Not just that—this number was also marked on the covering in which her body was wrapped."

Victim's son, Ravi Kala to The Quint

When asked about details of on casualties and other actions for the Kumbh stampede, the Ministry of Home Affairs told the Lok Sabha that it had not maintained data on the same, reported the Times of India on 19 March. 

Report by NDTV. 

Report by the Financial Express. 

Report by ET Now.

On the day of the stampede, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajesh Dwivedi, at first, denied that a stampede occurred, attributing the situation to heavy crowding that resulted in some devotees getting injured. Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Akanksha Rana acknowledged that barriers at the Sangam Nose had broken, leading to some chaos, but she too maintained that the injuries were minor and the situation was not serious.

Different state, same story:

The Karnataka government blamed the RCB franchise for the 4 June stampede in Bengaluru.

The government report noted that the team management unilaterally announced a free entry for the fans via social media, including a video featuring cricketer Virat Kohli, without consulting or obtaining permission from the city police, despite CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar being present at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

CM Siddaramaiah with the RCB players at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

(Source: PTI) 

At the time of the incident, the deputy CM told the press that “they never expected such a big crowd.”

A visual after the stampede outside the Chinnaswamy stadium.  

(Source: PTI)

While we are waiting for official data from the years 2023 and 2024, the number of casualties will definitely go up as compared to the previous years.

In July 2024, a stampede at a religious gathering in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, led by self-styled godman Bhola Baba alias Surajpal Jatav resulted in 121 deaths, mostly women.

The Quint reported that a First Information Report was filed against Dev Prakash Madhukar and other organisers, but the Godman was not named in it. The police later clarified that this happened as the event permit was secured under Madhukar's name.

Bihar, which saw the most number of stampedes between 2017-22 also saw another stampede in 2024 where seven people were killed.

The “National Guide on Crowd Management” by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), published in 2014, acts as a fundamental resource for developing, executing, and overseeing crowd management systems at large events.

Despite such regulations and budgets for crowd management, stampedes continue to occur and claim innocent lives, while the officials keeps shifting the onus of accountability. As social policy professor at Columbia University Neeraj Kaushal, writes, “Poor crowd management, not illiteracy, is the primary cause, with venues often exceeding capacity.” (sic.)

(with inputs from Avanish Kumar)

(Data sourced: National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India, Year and State-wise Stampede Incidents/Cases [Data set]. Dataful.

National Crime Records Bureau. Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India, Year, State and Gender-wise Persons Died and Injured due to Stampede [Data set]. Dataful.)