The stampede occurred at India’s Prayagraj, the site of Mahakumbh, the mega Hindu religious festival. During the early morning hours on Wednesday, it is reported that dozens of people were killed. Tens of millions had gathered in the city for the Mauni Amavasya, the day when devotees bathed.
The Guardian reported that local officials who counted casualties in hospital tents believed at least 38 to be dead. Other officials and doctors gave death tolls between 15 and 50.
A doctor quoted by AFP , a news agency said that so far 15 people have died as a result of the stampede.
Yogi Adityanath, the chief of Uttar Pradesh’s government in a statement to journalists on Wednesday did not mention any deaths at the festival.
Some devotees attempted to bathe between 1am-2am, despite the barricades that were placed in front of the designated area where the Akharas (monastic sects or warrior sadhus) live. He said that some devotees were injured and immediately taken to the hospital.
In a recent post, Indian PM Narendra Modi expressed his sorrow over the deaths in X:
My deepest sympathies are with those who lost loved ones in the tragedy at Prayagraj Mahkumbh …”
What happened in the situation that resembled a stampede?
Around 10 crore pilgrims are expected to take part in the Amrit Snan or ‘holy shower’, which is held on Mauni Amavasya.
Over 4.2 million devotees took the holy bathe on Wednesday, despite the early morning stampede-like scene.
Vivek Mihsra, an Hindustan Times social media content creator in Prayagraj said that the stampede occurred at 2.30am when many devotees arrived on the Sangam banks.
Mishra explained that the problem was caused by the fact that people didn’t know where they should go to after bathing. These people carried heavy bags on their shoulders. Pilgrims could not see the large number of dustbins made from iron. “A few people lost their balance and fell,” said he.
According to reports from devotees in The Guardian, the most horrific crush occurred when many people went to the river for a bath, and others were asleep on the ground around the congested bank.
As the mass surged, many people began pushing their way to exit and fell to the ground, trampled each other and pushed over the barriers. A second crowd crush is reported around the festival’s entrance.
The Indian Express quoted an official as saying, “The barricading systems were not effective at crowd control and people had to travel longer distances because of this.” Over the past few days, many people were in a state of agitation. These diversions created choke points …. During the “Shahi Snan”, chaos broke out and the police were forced to enter the water to control the large crowd.
Maha Kumbh: Current Situation and Scale
After the incident that occurred at the festival, akharas cancelled the Mauni Amavasya Amrit Snan earlier in the day.
Officials said that conditions for Amrit Snan were favorable by midday, when the situation had been brought under relative control and the injured patients taken to be treated.
The people are peacefully bathing here at the Ghats. In the morning there was a large crowd and pressure. The Akharas asked us to control the crowds and they said that the saints would be out later for snan. Our preparations are ready for Akharas, and the saints, now that the crowd has been controlled,” Vaibhav Krsna, DIG Mahakumbh, told news agency ANI.
While the tragedy unfolded, leaders from all political parties expressed their condolences.
This year, more than 400 millions people are expected to take part in the Kumbh Mela celebrations, which will be held in Prayagraj, in India’s north state of Uttar Pradesh, over a period of 45 days.
Until January 28, data from the state government shows that close to 20 million people had already participated in a holy wash at this festival.
As new information becomes available, this post Maha Kumbh Mela: stampede at Indian religious festival could be updated.
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