Rahul Gandhi meets families of stampede victims in Hathras

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 5 July met the family members of the victims of the stampede that killed over 100 people in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras.

Before meeting family members in Hathras, Gandhi made a stop at Aligarh and met the kin of victims from the district.

Gandhi left from Delhi early morning on Friday by road for Hathras and was accompanied by state Congress chief Ajay Rai, state Congress in-charge Avinash Pande, party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate and other office bearers.

A total of 121 people, mostly women, died in a stampede at self-styled godman Baba Bhole's satsang in Hathras on Tuesday, 2 July.

In Aligarh, the Congress leader was seen interacting with the family members of the victims of the Hathras stampede.

Rai told PTI that Gandhi left Delhi around 5.10 am. He reached Pilakhna village in Aligarh around 7.15 am.

Earlier, Rai told PTI that Rahul Gandhi will first make a condolence visit at Pilakhna in Aligarh and will later meet the families of the victims at Green Park and Vibhav Nagar near Navipur Khurd in Hathras.

Monu, a family member of the deceased, when asked about's Gandhi visit, said, "He also said that he will try his best to help (us), and will talk to the government as his party is not in power."

Khusboo, who had lost her mother, said that she would get help.

Another woman who lost her sister-in-law in the stampede told reporters, "He (Rahul Gandhi) told us that the (Congress) party will help us, and assured us help. He also inquired from us how it (the incident) took place."

She also said that there was laxity in treatment given to the victims, and added that they could have survived.

Congress MP from Saharanpur Imran Masood were also present where Gandhi met the families of victims.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday formed a three-member judicial commission headed by a retired high court judge to probe the Hathras tragedy, looking also into the possibility that a conspiracy was behind the stampede.