At least 77 killed in Indian religious event stampede, officials say

NEW DELHI — At least 77 people, mostly women and children, died in a stampede at a religious event in a village in northern India on Tuesday, with dozens more injured and the death toll feared to rise, according to local officials.

While the cause of the stampede was not immediately clear, a district official told local television reporters that “stuffiness” triggered it, in an apparent reference to sweltering weather. The temperature in the area hit 90 degrees, and humidity levels reached 77 percent.

“This incident took place when people were leaving the congregation due to excess stuffiness toward the end of the event,” said Ashish Kumar, district magistrate in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India.

The injured and dead were taken to hospitals in Hathras and neighboring Etah district. Kumar said between 50 and 60 people were confirmed dead in his district, while the chief medical officer of Etah district, Umesh Kumar Tripathi, said at least 27 dead were at the hospital there.

Some local media outlets estimated the death toll to be upward of 100, though the total could not immediately be confirmed.