Twenty-four people, including 20 women, were killed and more than 60 injured in a stampede as thousands of followers of a religious guru, Jai Gurudev, scrambled to cross a bridge in UP’s Varanasi on Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represents the city in Lok Sabha, spoke to officials and enquired about the incident, said to be triggered by rumours that the Rajghat bridge over Ganga, between Varanasi and Chandauli, was collapsing.

The tragedy comes about three months after a breakaway sect of Jai Gurudev’s followers in Mathura was involved in rioting, which led to the death of 24 people in June, including Mathura’s superintendent of police.

Jai Gurudev, a self-styled godman, died in 2012, but his cult and following remains. Saturday’s stampede took place when thousands of followers were on their way to the guru’s ashram in Domri village, on the banks of Ganga, to take part in a two-day camp. It led to a 12-km traffic jam and officials from Varanasi and Chandauli struggled to reach the accident site where footwear heaps and other belongings lay scattered. Ambulances made repeated trips even as some people, gasping for breath, waited anxiously for their turn to be picked up.

The police and volunteers looked overwhelmed as around one lakh people turned up for the weekend congregation against an earlier estimation of 3,000.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav announced cash relief for the affected families and ordered a probe into the incident.

Eyewitnesses said an elderly man felt suffocated due to the surging crowd and collapsed. Some other people fell on him, which caused commotion and the subsequent stampede at around 1.30 pm.

A spokesperson of Jai Gurudev Sansthan said the devotees were proceeding towards a camp but the police started sending them back, leading to rumours that the bridge ahead had collapsed.

UP police chief Javeed Ahmed said the police was investigating crowd management and will take action against those responsible.

“There was a lot of chaos, all of us were pushed and shoved. Many people have died, including my mother,” said an eyewitness.