How do crowd crushes happen?

What in the World

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On Tuesday 2nd July, over 120 people died in a crowd crush at a religious event in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. According to police reports, the crush happened after 200,000 people gathered in an area that only had capacity for 80,000. The BBC’s Jugal Purohit has been to the scene of the tragedy - he describes what we know about it so far and the ongoing investigations. On Thursday, police said they had arrested six people who were part of a committee that organised the event.

Sadly, people getting crushed in crowds isn’t that rare. In 2022, a Halloween crush killed 159 young people in Seoul. Yuna Ku, a BBC journalist in South Korea, tells us what happened.

Why do crowd crushes happen, how can they be prevented, and is there anything you can do if you get stuck in one? Kevyah Cardoso from the What in the World team explains.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Alex Rhodes Producers: Julia Ross-Roy and Kevyah Cardoso Editor: Emily Horler

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