New Delhi:

The district official – a sub divisional magistrate – who permitted ‘godman’ Bhole Baba’s ‘prayer meet’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, at which a stampede killed 121 people – never inspected the venue, a team investigating the tragedy said in a report submitted to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The SIT report also said the event organisers and local administration, including the police, were negligent and held them responsible, stating they “failed to make adequate arrangements” for so large a crowd. Neither local officials nor the cops took the event “seriously”, the report said.

That the organisers – who have been held “primarily responsible” involved, or hired, individuals without police verification has been held up as an example of that negligence.

And, in a lapse of protocol, local police did not inform, as soon as they should have, their seniors of the stampede and the deaths, the report said. The probe team also echoed the Chief Minister in suggesting a “conspiracy” behind the tragedy, and has recommended a more detailed investigation.

The report is based on statements from 125 people – from eyewitnesses and survivors to police and district officials. In addition, news reports and photographs and video footage were also examined.

New Delhi:

Days after 121 people were killed due to a stampede at a religious gathering in Hathras, advocate AP Singh has claimed that the incident that took the lives of 121 people, mostly women and children occurred because unidentified men sprayed poison during the event.

Singh claimed that the group of conspirators fled the venue after causing the stampede.

“Unidentified men were carrying poisonous sprays…They ran while spraying the poisonous spray and it looked as a part of a pre-planned conspiracy…Many people lost their consciousness…I urge the Special Investigation Team to investigate who all are behind this incident,” Advocate AP Singh told ANI on Saturday.

At least 121 devotees lost their lives in a stampede at a religious ‘Satsang’ event of self-styled godman Suraj Pal, alias ‘Bhole Baba’, in Fulari village, Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, on July 2.

Meanwhile, Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the Hathras stampede incident, was sent to 14 days of judicial custody after being produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Saturday. The court inquired if he had written permission for the event and from whom it was obtained. Madhukar replied that he received permission from the SDM for a gathering of 80,000 people. When asked if the event was publicised, Madhukar denied doing so.

Notably, Devprakash Madhukar had been absconding, and a reward of Rs 1 lakh was announced for information leading to his arrest. He was finally apprehended on July 5 in the national capital. Additionally, two other accused, Ramprakash Shakya and Sanju Yadav, were also arrested, according to the police.

Earlier on Saturday, self-styled godman Suraj Pal Singh or “Bhole Baba,” broke his silence in connection with the Hathras stampede in which 121 people, mostly women and children, died, stating that “those who created the chaos will not be spared.”

In a video statement, Suraj Pal, who also goes by the name of Narayan Sakar Hari expressed his grief and condoled the deaths at the tragedy that took place earlier this week during a ‘Satsang’ in Fulari village in Hathras district.

“I am deeply saddened by the incident of July 2. May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the government and the administration. I have faith that those who created the chaos will not be spared. Through my lawyer AP Singh, I have requested the members of the committee to stand with the bereaved families and the injured and help them throughout their lives,” the ‘Baba’ said.

The stampede occurred during the ‘Satsang’ of self-styled godman Suraj Pal Singh, known as ‘Bhole Baba’, in Fulari village, Hathras.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Just a pat on the back by preacher “Bhole Baba” and Ramkumari said a stone in her kidney vanished. The 85-year-old gave no proof but this story and countless others of similar “miracles” led to Baba’s following rocketing in India’s northern states.

A gathering addressed by the former police head constable in a crowded field last week drew a quarter of a million people and caused one of the deadliest stampedes in the country.

Bhole Baba was born Suraj Pal Singh Jatav. He quit the police in 2000 to join a series of Hindu preachers and gurus who are sought by millions for miracle cures and spiritual advice. They are often called godmen, and many have been wooed by politicians for the influence they wield.

Their patrons have included international celebrities like the Beatles, who spent days in the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the late 1960s. Some of these gurus expanded beyond India, most famously Osho, who lived and preached in the United States in the early 1980s.

Almost all of them are credited by their followers with miraculous powers.

“I had gone to one of his early gatherings and told him I had chronic pain from a kidney stone for many months,” said Ramkumari, Baba’s former neighbour in Bahadurnagar village in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, where he was born and still has a home.

The village has only about 50 homes in all and is set amid fields which grow corn, wheat and rice. On the periphery is a sprawling, pearly-white ashram run by devotees of Baba.

“He smiled and blessed me with a pat on the back. The stone vanished soon after,” said Ramkumari, who gave just one name.

Another resident in the village, 55-year-old Surajmukhi, said Baba’s blessing helped her give birth to a son after seven daughters. Sons are sought after in many Indian families.

“We desperately wanted a boy,” said Surajmukhi. “Then I met Baba with my husband. He made me chant some mantras (verses), gave me some water to drink and patted me on my back. After nine months I had a baby boy.”

Lying on a cot next to her, Baba’s older sister Sonkali, thin and frail, said: “It was a miracle”.

Baba, formally known as Narayan Sakar Hari now, is estimated to be about 72 by his family and followers, who are spread across India’s heartland states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

LINE TO GOD

Two neighbours who have known him since his childhood, including Ramkumari, said he took the path after a dream one night about 25 years ago that a divine spirit had given him supernatural powers. He quit the police in the city of Agra and started preaching, they said.

Baba would later claim he had a direct line to God and could channel divine blessings to people.

“Soon after we saw a line of cars bringing Suraj Pal into the village and people said he would henceforth be called a Baba (elder),” Ramkumari said.

Reuters could not contact Baba. He told Reuters partner ANI that he was grieving and his aides would help the injured and the families of those who died.

The stampede at his gathering on Tuesday killed 121 people, mostly women, and injured scores out of about 250,000 who had congregated in a canopied paddy field to listen to him, many trampling over one another as they ran after his car when he was leaving.

Police say authorities had allowed only 80,000 to attend, and have arrested six aides to Baba who were involved in organising the event. The main organiser surrendered to police on Friday.

Police said that in the initial days of his rise to fame, Baba had claimed that he could bring the dead back to life and even tried to take away the body of a 16-year-old girl from a crematorium promising a miracle to the family. Police intervened and the matter was closed soon after.

Posters and videos posted on YouTube show him dressed in traditional Indian kurta tunics or pristine white suits and ties, often sporting sunglasses, a departure from the spartan image of most godmen.

Still, his clout is smaller than other gurus and godmen in India, including Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Sadhguru. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, runs the Patanjali consumer goods brand that has boomed in recent years.

Two godmen, Asaram Bapu and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, were both convicted of rape in separate cases and jailed, after years of drawing thousands of devotees to their sermons and ashrams.

GIVE PEOPLE HOPE

Sociologists say such gurus are often believed to possess healing powers, and are especially popular among those who are poor, sick or feel underprivileged.

“People are insecure – economically, socially and otherwise,” said Dipti Ranjan Sahu, head of sociology at the University of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.

“Unemployment, deprivation, discrimination, ignorance, illiteracy – these things play a part. So they see hope in the godmen, maybe some miracle will happen.”

Surinder Singh Jodhka, who teaches social sciences at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and has researched on the subject, said “people are kind of looking for some meaning in their life” and that’s where godmen come in.

“People are feeling lost and they are looking for some sense through which they can identify with other people, they feel less lonely,” he said. “This gives them hope and they are willing to believe in it.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hathras:

121 families have still been reeling under the impact of the stampede in Hathras on Tuesday where their loved ones died. But all of them have united in two demands – a swift probe, and action against Bhole Baba aka Suraj Pal Singh who organised the ‘satsang’ where the stampede occurred. After arresting several accused in the case, police have uncovered that Bhole Baba’s organisation had been getting funding from several political parties.

Hathras Superintendent of Police, Nipun Agarwal, today revealed that the main accused Devprakash Madhukar had recently been in contact with several political parties. This has prompted investigations into potential political conspiracies surrounding the incident. Madhukar was known to manage fundraising activities for events organized by the self-styled godman.

Mr Agarwal emphasized that financial transactions, money trails, and call records associated with Madhukar are currently under scrutiny. The police are also planning to seek his remand for further questioning.

An initial probe into the stampede had revealed that the godman had received permission to host an event for 80,000 people, but 2.5 lakh people were allowed to enter the venue. After the gathering, when the ‘godman’ was leaving, there was a rush among his followers to collect dust stirred up by his car’s tyres. According to officials, the godman’s private security guards started pushing his followers and some people fell and were trampled. In the chaos, many others fled towards the open field and slipped, and others ran over them. Many of those killed in the stampede were women and children.

According to eyewitnesses, only about 40 police personnel were on duty to ensure safety at this massive gathering and they were overwhelmed when the stampede broke out.

Madhukar was the ‘mukhya sevadar’ (chief of security) of the ‘satsang’ where the stampede occurred. He is the only accused named in the FIR lodged at Sikandra Rao police station in Hathras in connection with the incident, and Suraj Pal Singh hasn’t been named.

Initially, Madhukar’s lawyer, AP Singh, had asserted that his client had voluntarily surrendered to the Delhi police for medical treatment. However, Hathras police said they arrested Madhukar through technical surveillance, offering a reward of one lakh rupees for information leading to his arrest.

On Saturday afternoon, amidst tight security arrangements, Madhukar was brought to the Bagla Combined District Hospital in Hathras for a medical examination. He appeared with his face covered by a handkerchief and a stole wrapped around his head.

A three-member judicial commission team has arrived in Hathras to investigate administrative lapses that may have contributed to the tragedy. Statements from multiple officials have been recorded, and the team visited the site of the incident to gather further evidence.

Authorities plan to delve deeper into Madhukar’s association with Bhole Baba’s trust, scrutinizing funding sources and bank accounts. They intend to collaborate with other agencies to probe potential political links to the case. Should it be deemed necessary, a summons may also be issued to Bhole Baba for questioning.

“We are conducting a thorough investigation into Madhukar’s background and his role in the incident,” stated SP Nipun Agarwal.

“If any political is found to be associated with (Bhole Baba’s) organisation, we will take action against them,” he added.

Asked if the self-styled godman may be arrested, state police chief Prashant Kumar said, “Right now, everything is a matter of investigation. We do not want to influence the investigation by drawing any immediate conclusion. The ambit of the investigation is open. Action will be taken based on the facts that come to light during the investigation.”

Lucknow:

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP chief Mayawati on Saturday demanded strict action against Suraj Pal Singh, the self-styled godman who is worshipped by his followers as ‘Bhole Baba’, in the Hathras stampede tragedy that claimed 121 lives.

The BSP chief also advised the poor, Dalits, and the oppressed in the country not to get misled by the superstition and hypocrisy of “babas”.

“The poor, Dalits, and the oppressed in the country should not increase their pain and suffer by getting misled by the superstition and hypocrisy of many Babas like Bhole Baba of Hathras to get rid of their poverty and all other problems, this is the advice,” she posted on X.

“Rather, by following the path shown by Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, they will have to change their own destiny by taking power into their own hands, that is, they will have to join their own party BSP, only then they can avoid incidents like Hathras in which 121 people died, which is very worrying,” Mayawati added.

She further said that the government should not be lax in such situations and take strict action against the guilty.

“In the Hathras case, strict action should be taken against Baba Bhole and others who are guilty. Action should be taken against other such Babas as well. In this case, the government should not be lax in its political interests so that no more people have to lose their lives,” the BSF chief wrote on X.

Meanwhile, the self-styled godman broke his silence on Saturday in connection with the Hathras stampede in which 121 people, mostly women and children, died, stating that “those who created the chaos will not be spared.”

In a video statement, Suraj Pal – who also goes by the name Narayan Sakar Hari – expressed his grief and condoled the deaths at the tragedy that took place earlier this week during a ‘Satsang’ in Fulari village in Hathras district.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

After 121 people were killed in a deadly stampede at his ‘satsang’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras earlier this week, Bhole Baba, the former constable-turned-self-styled godman, has said that he was “deeply saddened” by the incident. 

“May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the government and the administration. I have faith that anyone who created the chaos would not be spared. Through my lawyer AP Singh, I have requested the members of the committee to stand with the bereaved families and the injured and help them throughout their lives,” said ‘Bhole Baba’ in a video statement. 

#WATCH | Hathras Stampede Accident | Mainpuri, UP: In a video statement, Surajpal also known as ‘Bhole Baba’ says, “… I am deeply saddened after the incident of July 2. May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the government and the administration. I… pic.twitter.com/7HSrK2WNEM

— ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2024

The Stampede

The ‘satsang’ attracted as many as 2.5 lakh devotees. The stampede began when attendees “started collecting dust” from the ground where Bhole Baba’s car had passed. This chaotic scene led to men, women, and children falling over each other, resulting in several deaths. The gathering far exceeded the 80,000-person limit set by authorities, police said.

Bhole Baba, also known as Narayan Sakar Hari, had been elusive since the stampede. His lawyer, AP Singh, had said yesterday that he will cooperate with the investigation. “We have district-wise lists of the victims, and Narayan Sakar Hari’s trust would take care of the education, health, and wedding expenses of the families of those who died in the stampede,” Mr Singh said.

Main Accused Arrested

Devprakash Madhukar, the ‘mukhya sevadar’ of the ‘satsang’, has been arrested in Delhi, Hathras Police has said. With Madhukhar’s arrest, the total number of arrests in the case now stands at seven.

However, Mr Singh, who also represents Madhukar, has claimed that his client had surrendered, not arrested. “Today, we have surrendered Devprakash Madhukar, who was named the main organiser in the FIR in the Hathras case, after notifying the police, the SIT, and the STF in Delhi since he was undergoing treatment here,” Mr Singh stated in a video message. 

“We had promised we would not apply for anticipatory bail since we did no wrong. What is our crime? He is an engineer and a heart patient. Doctors said his condition is stable now, and so we surrendered today to join the probe,” Mr Singh added.

An FIR was registered against Madhukar by UP Police in Hathras, making him the prime accused in connection with the stampede. The police had even announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to his arrest. Six others, including two women volunteers who were part of the organising committee of the ‘satsang’, were arrested.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was briefed on the initial Special Investigation Team (SIT) report on the stampede. This confidential report, submitted by the Additional Director General (ADG) of Police, Agra Zone, Anupam Kulshrestha, contains testimonies from key officials, including Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar and Superintendent of Police Nipun Aggarwal. The FIR was registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The three-member SIT has recorded statements from 90 individuals so far. The state government has also established a three-member judicial commission headed by a retired high court judge.

New Delhi:

Former constable-turned-self-styled godman Bhole Baba whose ‘satsang’ (religious gathering) ended in a deadly stampede will show up “very soon”, said his lawyer, insisting that he would also assist the probe teams in their investigation. Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari has not been seen in public since the crowd crush that killed 121 people in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras.

Baba’s lawyer claimed that the trust would take care of the needs of the families of those killed.

“We have district-wise lists of the victims and Narayan Saakar Hari’s trust would take care of the education, health and wedding expenses of the families of those who died in the stampede,” said lawyer AP Singh.

The stampede at the event that saw 2.5 lakh devotees in attendance began on Tuesday when “followers started to collect dust” from the ground where the preacher’s car had passed. Men, women and children fell over each other, getting crushed.

Explaining the reason behind the huge turnout, Mr Singh said, “Yes, there were too many people at the gathering because no ‘satsangs’ were held from February to June.

Authorities had only given permission for 80,000 people to attend the sermon, less than a third of the number that turned up.

Yesterday, Mr Singh said that his client was not to blame for the disaster and was not on the run. “There is no reason for him to hide. He has never hidden in his life,” Mr Singh said. “He believes in the law. He is following police directions.”

Six people had been arrested so far for their alleged role in the disaster, all of whom were members of the organising committee for the sermon. Baba, who cultivated a large following in Uttar Pradesh, has not been named in the First Information Report.

“They were mainly working as volunteers,” he told reporters on Thursday. “They were engaged in crowd management and collecting funds,” police said.

A Special Investigation Team probing the Hathras stampede has recorded statements of 90 people so far, SIT chief Anupam Kulshrestha said on Friday. “Definitely, the gathered evidence suggests culpability on the part of the event organisers,” she said.

The lawyer also gave an update on Devprakash Madhukar, a key accused in the case. “He was injured in the stampede. He is being treated in a hospital. As soon as he recovers, he will be produced before the SIT,” he said.

Hathras:

Chotelal and his wife Manju Devi had gone to Hathras on Tuesday to attend ‘Bhole Baba’s’ satsang, just like they had been doing for the last 4-5 years. They also took their 6-year-old son hoping that he would learn something from the preachings. But the day ended on a tragic note, one that Chotelal had not imagined even in his scariest dreams – his wife and son died in a stampede at the end of the ‘Satsang’ that also claimed the lives of 119 other people.

The incident unfolded during a gathering of followers of self-styled godman Narayan Sakar Hari, also known as ‘Bhole Baba’. As devotees gathered to catch a glimpse of the godman leaving in his car, pandemonium erupted triggering a stampede. Witnesses recounted the horror as people scrambled to avoid the crush, with many falling victim to the tumultuous surge.

Chotelal spoke through tears of his devastating loss. “I was near the main gate when the stampede started. My wife fell into a pit filled with water as she tried to escape. Both my wife and son did not survive,” he lamented, his voice choked with grief.

For families like Chotelal’s, the aftermath has been a harrowing ordeal. Identifying loved ones among the deceased in various mortuaries across Hathras has become a painful ritual. The injured, scattered across multiple hospitals, have left relatives desperately searching for information and solace.

After #Hathras Tragedy, Grieving Families Left With Questions And Anger#GroundReport by @TanushkaDuttapic.twitter.com/xnt4SQxg38

— NDTV (@ndtv) July 5, 2024

The daughter-in-law of another victim, Premvati, described the chaos and trauma her family endured. “My mother-in-law was our pillar of strength,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion. “We have been associated with Bhole Baba for nearly a decade, attending his satsangs regularly. Now she is gone, and we are left questioning why this happened.”

Both families also have one more question, “If Bhole Baba can perform miracles, why did this happen and why hasn’t he brought his followers back to life.”

Survivors recount scenes of sheer terror and helplessness. One survivor, who narrowly escaped the stampede, recalled being trapped under a pile of people. “There was no space to move. I lost consciousness and woke up in the hospital,” she recounted, her face still bearing the marks of the ordeal. “We were calling out for help, but it was chaos all around.”

“When I Went To The Hospital…”: Man Who Lost Mother In #Hathras Tragedy Breaks Down pic.twitter.com/Yau44cYSnx

— NDTV (@ndtv) July 5, 2024

Amidst the tragedy, the political blame game has begun, overshadowing the voices of grief-stricken families who are struggling to come to terms with their losses. Calls for accountability and measures to prevent such disasters in the future are echoing through the grief-stricken community.

Making a late-night appearance outside the ashram in Mainpuri where Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari is believed to be staying, the self-styled godman’s lawyer said he does not know where he is and does not need to know either. 

Repeating the claim that anti-social elements caused the stampede at the religious event organised in the godman’s honour in Hathras, in which 121 people were killed, the lawyer also said the baba is a follower of the law and will not go on the run. The original name of the ‘godman’ is Suraj Pal.

The lawyer hired by Pal is AP Singh, who has defended Nirbhaya gangrape convicts, represented Seema Haider, the Pakistani woman who crossed over into India illegally, and appeared on behalf of farm unions during the farmers’ protests. 

Addressing reporters outside the ashram on Thursday night, Mr Singh said in Hindi, “I don’t know where he (Pal) is and I don’t want to know. I just want to do my work… As soon as I find out, I will tell you… How can I or you say he is responsible… From what I have found out about Narayan Saakar Hari, he is not going to go on the run. He is a follower of the law, he believes in BR Ambedkar’s constitution. He will be in an ashram, not a hotel. He doesn’t stay at a hotel.”

On the events of Tuesday, Mr Singh said the ‘satsang’ (religious event) was organised in an open area with fields everywhere and reports of a closed space were untrue. 

“I spoke to people who attended the ‘satsang’. Elderly women who were injured told me something like this has never happened before. They said they had been attending the ‘satsangs’ for 15-18 years and they were held every Tuesday, barring a few weeks in the past few months. The women told me the men who crushed people were well-built, seemed drunk and started as soon as they saw an opportunity,” the lawyer claimed. 

“I asked them how long it had been since Narayan Saakar Hari left and they said 30-35 minutes,” he said, adding that many of the organisers and volunteers also left their loved ones, including their children, mothers and wives. 

Asked whether the administration was at fault because permission was given to hold an event near a highway, Mr Singh pointed out that the question does not arise because no traffic accidents took place. 

Mr Singh also brushed away a reporter’s query on Pal’s followers calling the ‘godman’ a ‘parmatma’ (immortal soul) and said he was one too, because he had a soul which was also immortal.

Pal’s Arrest?

Issuing a brief statement on Wednesday after maintaining silence since the stampede, Pal expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and said he will take legal action against “anti-social elements” that were allegedly behind the tragedy. 

Asked whether Pal would be arrested, Inspector General (Aligarh Range) Shalabh Mathur had said earlier on Thursday that he was not named in the first information report and the police would take further action based on the facts that emerge.

“We will make arrests based on what the investigation reveals… We will question the baba if necessary, it is too early to say or comment whether he has a role. He has not been named in the FIR, which has held the organisers responsible. The permission was taken by the organising committee and members of the panel have been arrested,” he said.

Announcing their first arrests in the stampede at the Hathras religious event which killed 121 people, the Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday said they have taken six people into custody, but there was one notable omission – Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari, the self-styled godman in whose honour the ‘satsang’ was organised.  

Pressed on the issue at a press conference, Inspector General of Police (Aligarh Range) Shalabh Mathur said the investigation has just begun and more arrests will be made based on the facts that emerge. He also clarified that the ‘godman’, whose original name is Suraj Pal, has not been questioned yet. 

Not ruling out taking Pal into custody, the officer said, “We will make arrests based on what the investigation reveals… We will question the baba if necessary, it is too early to say or comment whether he has a role. He has not been named in the FIR, which has held the organisers responsible. The permission was taken by the organising committee and members of the panel have been arrested.”

The permission was taken in the name of one Ved Prakash Madhukar, the officer said, adding that teams have been formed to trace him and a reward of Rs 1 lakh has been announced for information leading to his arrest. “If the role of other people is revealed during Madhukar’s questioning, we will take action accordingly,” Mr Mathur said.

Asked about the previous cases against the ‘godman’, who has allegedly also been accused of sexual assault, the officer said that, from what they know so far, Pal was a head constable with the UP police and had taken VRS (voluntary retirement from service) in 2000, when he was posted in Agra. 

“Soon after, an FIR was registered against him in Agra’s Shahganj police station and he was later acquitted. We are finding out if he has any more cases against him and we are taking the help of police in various states for this. 

Tuesday’s stampede, which led to the deaths of 121 people, including at least seven children, occurred at a ‘satsang’ in Phulrai village under Sikandra Rao police station limits in Hathras. Police said permission had been given for 80,000 people but 2.5 lakh had gathered for the event. 

When Pal was leaving in his car, a crowd rushed to collect the dust left in its wake, thinking of it as a blessing.

In a bid to control the crowd, the volunteers and others in charge of security from Pal’s organisation began pushing people back. Several devotees fell around an embankment and were crushed by the crowd. Amid the chaos, other attendees began running, triggering a stampede. 

Issuing a brief statement on Wednesday after maintaining silence since the stampede, Pal expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and said he will take legal action against “anti-social elements” that were allegedly behind the tragedy.