India’s Prayagraj Millions of pilgrims flocked to plunge in holy waters during the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India early Wednesday, causing a stampede that left at least 30 people dead and several others injured, according to police.
Another 60 injured people were taken to hospitals, according to Prayagraj city police official Vaibhav Krishna.
Authorities anticipated that a record 100 million devotees would take a ceremonial bath at the meeting point of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the fabled Saraswati rivers on Wednesday, a sacred day during the six-week Hindu holiday. Hindus think that taking a swim at the sacred location can absolve them of their previous transgressions and put an end to the cycle of rebirth.
Yogi Adityanath, the top elected official in Uttar Pradesh state, said in a televised announcement that the rush occurred when pilgrims attempted to scale barricades set up for a procession of holy men.
The major attraction of the occasion is the thousands of Hindu ascetics covered in ash who march in great procession to the confluence to take a bath.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sympathies and acknowledged the loss of life, Indian officials took almost 16 hours to reveal the number of casualties.
We became stuck when there was sudden pressing in the crowd. According to pilgrim Sarojini, who was quoted by the Press Trust of India news agency, “many of us fell down and the crowd went uncontrolled.” She claimed that there was no way out and that everyone was pushing.
Families in distress waited in line outside a temporary hospital, hoping to hear about loved ones who had gone missing. Backpacks, blankets, and clothing were scattered over the stampede site.
Police used megaphones to warn people to avoid the confluence, but millions nonetheless crowded the 4,000-hectare (15-square mile) pilgrimage site. Instead, Adityanath advised people to bathe along other riverbanks.
Although the situation is now under control, Adityanath stated that between 90 million and 100 million pilgrims were present at the location.
By 8 a.m., almost 30 million individuals had taken the holy bath. Wednesday, he said.
The 12-year-old Maha Kumbh celebration began on January 13. More than 400 million people are anticipated to visit the pilgrimage site overall, according to authorities. Almost 150 million people have already shown up, including celebrities like Chris Martin of Coldplay and Home and Defense Ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah.
To accommodate the millions of tourists, a vast tent city with roads, water and electricity, 3,000 kitchens, and 11 clinics has been constructed on the riverbanks.
More than 2,500 cameras track crowd density and movement so officials may try to avoid such crushes, and over 50,000 security guards are stationed across the city to regulate crowds and ensure law and order.
The federal and state governments, which are both headed by Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party, came under fire from a number of opposition leaders who blamed the stampede on poor management and VIP culture—the latter of which refers to what they claim is preferential treatment for celebrities and politicians.
On social media site X, Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted that the government should improve its procedures to accommodate the requirements of regular worshipers.