At least 30 people have died in a stampede during the world's largest pilgrimage festival in India, according to police reports. In addition, 60 visitors to the Meha Kumbh Mela were injured, said Vaibhav Krishna, deputy inspector general of police in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
The Hindu festival of Maha Kumbh Mela takes place every twelve years and attracts hundreds of millions of people over a six-week period. (January 28, 2025)
Image:IMAGO/ZUMA
The grounds for the Hindu festival Maha Kumbh Mela on the banks of the Ganges in Prayagraj in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh are packed with millions of people.
According to reports, the incident occurred early Wednesday morning (local time) not far from the confluence of the Ganges with the Yamuna River, which is also revered as holy. Barricades set up for safety collapsed during a crowd, the NDTV channel reported. Some visitors fell to the ground and panic broke out. Around 30 women were injured.
At the center of the six-week festival are ritual ablutions at the point where the Ganges and the Yamuna join the Saraswati river, which only exists in mythology. Wednesday is one of the so-called "royal bathing days", with up to 100 million people expected to attend. Mass panics occur time and again during India's major religious festivals. At the Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013, 36 people lost their lives.