CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 1, 2024--
Krispy Kreme® Rewards members can celebrate FREEdom throughout the month of July with a free doughnut every Tuesday and a free iced coffee every Friday with any purchase, the brand announced today.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240701068654/en/
The FREEbies with any purchase at participating Krispy Kreme shops kick off Tuesday, July 2 when Rewards members can select any doughnut from Krispy Kreme's new Star Spangled Sweetness Collection – three patriotic sweet treats celebrating the Fourth of July: the Firework Cookies & Kreme™ Filled Doughnut, the Cotton Candy Sparkler Doughnut, and the Freedom Flag Doughnut.
A week later on Tuesday, July 9, Krispy Kreme will treat Rewards members to any doughnut from its popular KIT KAT® Collection – the KIT KAT® Crunch Doughnut, KIT KAT® Cookie Dream Doughnut, and the KIT KAT® Salted Caramel Brownie Doughnut for free. These doughnuts, packed with creamy chocolate and crispy wafers, which were first offered in April as part of an all-new, limited-time collection, will return for one week only, beginning July 8.
Rewards members’ free doughnuts for Tuesday, July 16, 23 and 30 are surprises and will be revealed in the coming days at www.krispykreme.com and on the brand’s social media channels.
Rewards members’ free iced coffee each Friday in July can be any size.
Krispy Kreme earlier this year introduced all-new Krispy Kreme Rewards – the most generous rewards program in the history of doughnuts – attracting millions of new members to a more generous points system that makes it faster to earn and easier to redeem free doughnuts and beverages. Guests can sign up for Krispy Kreme Rewards by simply downloading the Krispy Kreme app and or by visiting www.krispykreme.com/account/create-account.
Rewards members, show how you're celebrating FREEdom with FREEbies from Krispy Kreme throughout July by using #KrispyKreme and tagging @krispykreme on social. Learn more about Krispy Kreme’s FREEdom FREEbies by visiting www.krispykreme.com/rewards.
About Krispy Kreme
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Krispy Kreme is one of the most beloved and well-known sweet treat brands in the world. Our iconic Original Glazed® doughnut is universally recognized for its hot-off-the-line, melt-in-your-mouth experience. Krispy Kreme operates in more than 35 countries through its unique network of fresh doughnut shops, partnerships with leading retailers, and a rapidly growing Ecommerce and delivery business with more than 14,000 fresh points of access. Our purpose of touching and enhancing lives through the joy that is Krispy Kreme guides how we operate every day and is reflected in the love we have for our people, our communities and the planet. Connect with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts at www.KrispyKreme.com, or on one of its many social media channels, including www.Facebook.com/KrispyKreme and www.Twitter.com/KrispyKreme.
Free doughnuts on Tuesdays and any sized free iced coffee on Fridays with any purchase begins Tuesday, July 2 at Krispy Kreme (Graphic: Business Wire)
HATHRAS, India (AP) — Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving at least 121 people dead as the faithful surged towards the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued.
Five of those died on Wednesday morning, local official Manish Chaudhry said, and 28 people were still being treated in a hospital.
Deadly stampedes are relatively common at Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures.
Some quarter of a million people turned up for the event Tuesday that was permitted to accommodate 80,000. It’s not clear how many made it inside the giant tent set up in a muddy field in a village in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh state.
It was also not clear what sparked the panic. But the state's chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, told reporters that a crowd of devotees rushed towards the preacher to touch him as he was descending from the stage, and volunteers struggled to intervene.
An initial report from the police suggested that thousands of people then thronged the exits, and many slipped on the muddy ground, causing them to fall and be crushed in the crowd. Most of the dead were women.
The chaos appeared to continue outside the tent as well as devotees ran towards the preacher, a Hindu guru known locally as Bhole Baba, as he left in a vehicle. His security personnel pushed the crowd back, causing more people to fall, according to officials.
Authorities are investigating and searching for Bhole as well as other organizers, whose whereabouts are not known.
Binod Sokhna, who lost his mother, daughter and wife, wept as he walked out of a morgue on Wednesday.
“My son called me and said, ‘Papa, mother is no more. Come here immediately. My wife is no more,’” he said, crying.
Bhole’s Sri Jagar Guru Baba organization had spent more than two weeks preparing for the event.
Devotees from across the state, which with over 200 million people is India's most populous, traveled to the village, with rows of parked vehicles stretching 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles).
State official Ashish Kumar said there were insufficient exits in the vast tent. It’s not clear how many there were.
Experts said the event violated safety norms. “The function was held in a makeshift tent without ensuring multiple exit routes,” said Sanjay Srivastava, a disaster management expert.
On Tuesday, hundreds of relatives had gathered at local hospitals, wailing in distress at the sight of the dead, placed on stretchers and covered in white sheets on the grounds outside. Buses and trucks also carried dozens of victims to morgues.
Sonu Kumar was one of many local residents who helped lift and move dead bodies after the disaster. He criticized the preacher: “He sat in his car and left. And his devotees here fell one upon another.”
“The screams were so heart-wrenching. We have never seen anything like this before in our village,” Kumar added.
In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in central Madhya Pradesh state trampled one another amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river.
In 2011, more than 100 Hindu devotees died in a crush at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.
This version has been updated to correct that a state official said there were insufficient exits, not that there was only one.
Banerjee reported from Lucknow, India. Associated Press writer Krutika Pathi contributed from New Delhi.
Relatives and volunteers carry the bodies on stretchers at the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Manoj Aligadi)
Relatives mourn next to the bodies of their relatives outside the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering in India rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo)
Women mourn next to the body of a relative outside the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering in India rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores.(AP Photo/Manoj Aligadi)
A woman watches members of a forensic team investigate the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Rain puddles are seen at the scene of a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district about 350 kilometers (220 miles) southwest of the state capital, Lucknow, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Police tape cordons off the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Members of a forensic team investigate the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
People injured in a stampede receive treatment at Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
A man weeps while hugging the father-in-law of his 37-year-old sister Ruby, victim of a stampede, outside Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
A man mourns by the body of his 37-year-old sister Ruby, victim of a stampede, outside Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Family members of 37-year-old Ruby, victim of a stampede, mourn after receiving her body from a mortuary as they prepare to leave for their hometown, outside Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
