Dozens injured, casualties feared in Maha Kumbh stampede

Prayagraj: A stampede injured dozens of people early on Wednesday as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to take a holy bath in the river at the massive Maha Kumbh festival in northern India, local media reported. Multiple casualties were also feared at the ongoing gathering.

Distressed families lined up outside a makeshift hospital inquiring about their missing relatives, rescuers were helping the injured and police tried to manage the crowds. People’s belongings like clothes, blankets and backpacks were strewn around the scene of the stampede. It was not immediately clear what triggered the panic or how many people had been hurt.

Wednesday was a sacred day during the six-week festival, and authorities were expecting a record 100 million devotees to engage in a ritual bath at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers. The ritualistic bathing’s main draw are



thousands of ash-smeared Hindu ascetics who arrive in massive processions towards the confluence to take a holy dip in the waters.

The Maha Kumbh festival, held every 12 years, started on January 13 and is the world’s largest religious gathering. Authorities expect more than 400 million people to throng the pilgrimage site in total. Authorities built a sprawling tent city on the riverbanks to accommodate visitors. It has 3,000 kitchens and 1,50,000 toilets, plus roads, electricity and water, communication towers and 11 hospitals.

About 50,000 security personnel are stationed in the city to maintain law and order and manage crowds. Stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas. In 2013, at least 40 pilgrims who were taking part in the festival were killed in a stampede at a train station in Prayagraj.