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116 people are dead after a massive stampede at a religious event in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and many more are in critical condition.
The religious event, known as a 'satsang sabha,' was being hosted by a local guru known as Narayan Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba, and thousands of people flocked to the district of Hathras, southwest of the state's capital of Lucknow, to watch the event.
Bhole Baba actually used to be an officer in the state police force, but he claims to have had a vision that led him to become a preacher. Since then, he has amassed a huge following across numerous states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
Unfortunately, in this scenario, an unclear disturbance caused some panic in the crowd, which led to a huge stampede that killed dozens on the spot. Since the area was so crowded, people just started falling on top of each other, leading to suffocation of the people buried under other bodies. Prime Minister Modi immediately gave his condolences to the families of the deceased victims, and any injured survivors were rushed straight to the hospital.
Crowd stampedes like this often occur when there are too many people packed into a tight space. In fact, the area where Bhole Baba was hosting the event was prepared to host 5,000 people, but reports show that around 15,000 people were there. This type of density has occurred at previous religious gatherings by Bhole Baba as well-- one of his sabhas in 2022 was meant for 50 people, and around 50,000 people showed up.
Sadly, this isn't the first time events like this have happened in India. In 2013, around 115 people were killed in Madhya Pradesh after a stampede during the Hindu festival of Navratri when rumors spread that a bridge they were on was about to collapse. In 2011, over 100 people died during a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala. And these crushes don't only happen in extremely populous countries. In 2023, a stampede in a narrow alleyway in Yemen killed 78 people after they swarmed around a charity event giving out $10 to anyone celebrating Ramadan. In 2022, 159 people were killed during a crush in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, during Halloween festivities.
On another note, 30 people were injured after an Air Europa flight from Madrid, Spain to Montevideo, Uruguay yesterday dropped in midair, and the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Brazil.
The plane, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, had been flying smoothly for most of the trip, but when approaching Brazil, the pilot reported that there was some slight turbulence ahead and turned on the seatbelt sign. After around 20 minutes of very minimal turbulence, passengers became complacent and began to walk around the cabin and relax without their seatbelts even though the sign was still on. Suddenly, the plane nosedived, plummeting around 1,300 feet before they regained control.
People slammed into the ceiling as the flight lost control, breaking bones and creating an extremely chaotic scene all over the cabin. Bags, personal items, and people flew all over the place before the pilot finally regained control, and they were forced to make an emergency landing in Brazil. Later flights came to pick up stranded passengers and take them to their original destination in Uruguay, while other injured passengers remained in hospitals across the landing area. Reports showed that various people had broken arms, legs, noses, and even their spine from the impact.
This comes just weeks after numerous other accidents involving Boeing aircraft: counterfeit titanium was found in Boeing aircraft in June, a Boeing engineer raised concerns over the shortcuts taken in the production of their 787 Dreamliner and an engine cover fell off mid-flight on a Boeing 737-800 in April, 50 people were injured after a LATAM Airlines flight experienced a steep mid-air drop in a similar incident to this one in March, and a door plug fell off of an Alaska Airlines flight in January, forcing the FAA to ground the plane.
Lastly, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has followed in California's footsteps and banned brominated vegetable oil (BVO), a harmful food and drink additive, from all products in the United States. The new law will go into effect on August 2, 2024, and all companies will have up to one year to remove the chemical from all of their products sold in the United States. Read more about the dangers of BVO and other popular additives in this YNH Exclusive!
Fact of the Day (Readers' Digest): According to the Vatican, the Pope’s entire body must be buried completely intact because his body belongs to the Catholic Church, meaning that he is not allowed to be an organ donor.
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In a Sentence: She felt the most at ease outdoors, often taking delight in the peaceful glades she came across on her hikes.
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