Police report says 250,000 people had gathered at a Hindu event in Uttar Pradesh that had a capacity of 80,000

About 250,000 people had gathered at the Hindu religious congregation in northern India where 121 people died in a crowd crush, triple the capacity permitted by authorities, a police report has said.

The deadly crush took place on Tuesday at a religious function known as a satsang held in a village in Hathras, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, when hundreds of thousands of devotee turned up to see Bhole Baba, a popular self-styled guru.

Most of the dead are women or children, say officials, with suggestions a dust storm created panic as thousands were leaving a prayer meeting in Hathras, south-east of Delhi

At least 116 people, most of them women and children, have been killed in a crowd crush at a Hindu religious gathering in northern India, and more than 80 others were injured, local police have said.

The crush happened when thousands of devotees tried to leave a prayer meeting, or satsang, with a local religious leader in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh state. “The attendees were exiting the venue when a dust storm blinded their vision, leading to a melee and the subsequent tragic incident,” Chaitra V, a divisional commissioner of Aligarh city in Uttar Pradesh, told Agence France-Presse.