Dozens of people were killed in a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India on Wednesday as tens of millions of Hindus gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters on the most auspicious day of a six-week festival.
Reuters counted 39 bodies in the morgue of the local hospital, where bodies were still being brought in 12 hours after crowds surged towards the confluence of rivers where immersion is considered especially sacred
Dozens of people were killed in a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India on Wednesday as tens of millions of Hindus gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters on the most auspicious day of a six-week festival.
Reuters counted 39 bodies in the morgue of the local hospital, where bodies were still being brought in 12 hours after crowds surged towards the confluence of rivers where immersion is considered especially sacred
OPPOSITION PARTIES BLAME “MISMANAGEMENT”
The Hindu festival is expected to draw some 400 million people overall, according to officials, compared with the Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia which drew 1.8 million last year.
By Tuesday, nearly 200 million people had attended the festival since it started two weeks ago, officials said, adding that more than 57 million people had taken a holy dip until 4 p.m. (1030 GMT) on Wednesday alone.
Devout Hindus believe going into the water at the confluence of three sacred rivers – the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mythical, invisible Saraswati – absolves people of sins and, during the Kumbh, also brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.
Attendees this year ranged from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah to Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and celebrities like Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who local media reported reached Prayagraj on Tuesday.
Authorities had expected a record 100 million people to throng the temporary township in Prayagraj on Wednesday, and had deployed additional security and medical personnel along with AI-software-based technology to manage the crowd.
A Rapid Action Force (RAF) – a special police unit called in during crisis – was deployed after the stampede with devotees entering the water first and ascetics beginning their processions only after devotee numbers reduced.
Scores of ascetics, smeared in holy ash or wearing saffron, moved towards the confluence as security personnel and dense crowds of devotees looked on and helicopters showered petals from above.
Opposition parties blamed the stampede on what they called the government’s “mismanagement” and “VIP culture”.
“VIP culture should be curbed and the government should make better arrangements to meet the needs of common devotees,” Rahul Gandhi, leader of main opposition Congress party, said on X, referring to politicians and celebrities being treated differently.
A similar stampede on the most auspicious day of the festival when it was last held in 2013 had killed at least 36 pilgrims.
