Maha Kumbh: At least 15 feared dead in stampede during huge Hindu festival in India
Maha Kumbh: At least 15 feared dead in stampede during huge Hindu festival in India
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At least 15 people are feared dead and many more injured in a stampede as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to take ritual baths in sacred rivers at the massive Maha Kumbh festival in northern India. Several pilgrims were injured, some seriously, in the stampede between 1am and 2am local time on Wednesday as they tried to jump barricades erected for the movement of religious saints, Uttar Pradesh state's top elected official, Yogi Adityanath, said in a televised statement.
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He made no mention of any deaths even eight hours after the crush of pilgrims at the site. The crush happened as pilgrims tried to jump over police barricades to reach Sangam Nose, the point where India's Ganges river meets Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.
“At least 15 people” were killed, a doctor at a hospital tending to survivors told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to media . 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 including clothes, blankets and backpacks were strewn around the scene of the stampede. It was not immediately clear what triggered the panic.
“The situation is now under control, but there is a massive crowd of pilgrims,” Adityanath said, adding that 90 million to 100 million pilgrims had congregated there. “About 30 million people had taken the holy bath by 8am Wednesday,” he said. Wednesday is 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.
