What caused the deadly crowd crush in Hathras, India?

At least 120 people, mostly women, have died at a religious gathering for Hindu guru Bhole Baba.

At least 121 people, the vast majority of them women, have died in a crowd crush on Tuesday in India’s Hathras district, at a religious gathering for the Hindu guru, Bhole Baba.

Here is all we know about the incident which took place on Tuesday afternoon:

A large crowd of 250,000 devotees of the religious leader Suraj Pal, also known as Bhole Baba, gathered for a satsang – prayer meeting – in a village in Hathras on Tuesday. About 80,000 of them had been allowed to enter a field serving as the main venue for the prayer meeting.

Many people had gathered in a makeshift tent where the prayer meeting was taking place, pitched atop muddy terrain.

Bhole is a Dalit, a group of people at the bottom of India’s caste system. Many of his followers are also from so-called “lower castes”, and are female or poor.