New Delhi — At least 77 people were killed Tuesday in a stampede at a religious event in the central Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, authorities said. Some Indian media reports put the death toll at more than 100, with most of the victims women, as authorities scrambled to tally the toll at hospitals in the region.

The riot took place during a “satsang”, a prayer meeting organised by a Hindu guru, in Rati Bhanpur village in the state's Hathras region. Thousands of the guru's followers came to listen to his lecture, huddled in tents to escape the scorching sun, before panic broke out and people started running.

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Ashish Kumar, district magistrate of Hathras, said the local public health centre had confirmed 50 to 60 deaths among residents of the district alone. Authorities in neighbouring Etah district confirmed the deaths of 27 others.

“We have received 27 bodies, including 25 women and two men. Several injured victims have also been taken to hospital,” Dr Umesh Kumar Tripathi, chief medical officer of Etah hospital, told reporters.

Etah police chief Rajesh Kumar said three children were among those killed in the incident.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the panic, but several eyewitnesses told local media that the stampede began as the event was ending and people were rushing to leave the venue.

A video widely shared on social media showed dozens of bodies, mostly women, being transported to area hospitals.

Uttar Pradesh's top state official, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, ordered an inquiry into the incident as residents began expressing anger and accusing that proper arrangements had not been made for the massive gathering, which was held in hot and humid conditions.

Senior police officer Shalabh Mathur said “temporary permission” had been granted for a religious event organised by the local guru, a Hindu priest named Bhole Baba.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Uttar Pradesh state government was providing all possible assistance to the victims.

Opposition Congress party leader Pawan Khera accused the state government, led by Modi's Bhartiya Janata Party, of being unprepared for the incident. He said the hospital where the injured were being treated did not have enough doctors or facilities to treat them.

Crowds of people gathering at religious events in India are not unusual, as the gatherings are largely privately run and often without adequate security or crowd control measures.

One of the deadliest stampede incidents at a religious event occurred in 2005, when more than 340 people were killed at the Mandhardevi temple in the western state of Maharashtra. More than 250 people died in another stampede at the Chamunda Devi temple in Rajasthan in 2008. The same year, more than 160 people died in a stampede at a religious event at the Naina Devi temple in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.