India’s Kumbh festival stampede claimed dozens of lives, according to witnesses and police officials

As tens of millions flocked to soak in holy river waters on the most auspicious day of a six-week Hindu festival, a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India on Wednesday claimed dozens of lives, according to police sources and a Reuters witness.

Authorities had not yet formally announced the number of casualties, but more than 12 hours after the catastrophe at the largest human gathering in history, bodies were still being transported to the nearby Moti Lal Nehru Medical College hospital morgue.

Three police sources told Reuters that about 40 bodies were taken to the morgue. There were 39 bodies at the morgue, according to a Reuters witness.
 
All 39 were stampede casualties, according to one of the three police sources and a fourth officer.

More corpses are arriving. Here, we have almost forty bodies. According to one of the individuals, “We are also moving them out and giving them to families one by one.”

About six individuals were searching the morgue for their loved ones, while fifteen ambulances were parked outside.

In response to a request for comment, senior police officer Vaibhav Krishna stated that officers were occupied with crowd control and could not provide official figures.

As throngs rushed towards the meeting point of three rivers, where immersion is most revered, distraught family members waited in line to identify those murdered in the stampede.

While some witnesses described a massive push that sent devotees tumbling on one another, others claimed that the blockage of waterways brought the crowded area to a halt and caused many to suffocate and collapse.

There was chaos as everyone began tugging, shoving, and piling on top of one other. After my mother passed away, my sister-in-law did the same. According to 40-year-old Jagwanti Devi, who was sitting in an ambulance with her family members’ remains, “People ran over them.”

Saroja only provided her first name and said that four of her family members had died at the hands of police. Saroja had come from the southern city of Belagavi.

“Police failed to make appropriate plans. “They’re to blame for this,” she cried. According to the police, they are making every effort to control the large throng.

According to a representative at SRN Hospital in Prayagraj, where some of the injured were sent, the deceased had either heart attacks or comorbid conditions like diabetes.

“People arrived with fractured bones and fractures…The official, who wished to remain anonymous, stated, “Some collapsed on the spot and were taken dead.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deepest sympathies to “devotees who have lost their loved ones” without mentioning the exact number of them.

Some devotees attempted to scale barricades erected to control crowds, which triggered the rush, according to Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state, which is home to the festival city of Prayagraj.

Others stepped over items dropped by others attempting to flee the crowd, while others slumped on the ground in tears at the scene of the stampede.

THE OTHER PARTIES ACCUSE “MISMANAGEMENT”

In contrast to the Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, which drew 1.8 million people last year, organizers estimate that the Hindu celebration will attract almost 400 million people total.

Officials reported that since the celebration began two weeks ago, about 200 million people have come, with over 57 million taking a holy plunge till 4 p.m. (1030 GMT) on Wednesday alone.

In addition to absolving individuals of sins, pious Hindus believe that bathing at the meeting point of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the fabled, unseen Saraswati gives redemption from the cycle of life and death during the Kumbh.

Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, and celebrities like Chris Martin of Coldplay, who arrived in Prayagraj on Tuesday, were among the attendees this year.

Modi was anticipated to attend the festival the following month.

A record 100 million people were predicted to swarm Prayagraj’s temporary township on Wednesday. To control the crowd, authorities sent in more security and medical staff in addition to AI-software.

Ascetics started their processions only when the number of devotees decreased, and the ‘holy dips’ were also strictly controlled, with devotees going first and a Rapid Action Force (RAF), a special police unit summoned in times crises, sent in to bring the situation under control after the stampede.

Numerous ascetics, clad in saffron or covered in sacred ash, were shown on television making their way to the confluence while helicopters dumped petals from above and security guards and throngs of worshippers watched.

Several individuals were left trapped as officials attempted to control the traffic on the highways going into Prayagraj, according to social media reports.

“I’ve been stuck in traffic for 19 hours, even though I planned this trip for over a year,” American travel blogger Drew Binsky said on Instagram, where he has over 1.2 million followers.

Opposition parties attributed the stampede on “VIP culture” and “mismanagement” on the part of the government.

“VIP culture should be curbed, and the government should make better arrangements to meet the needs of common devotees,” Rahul Gandhi, the head of the main opposition Congress party, stated on X in reference to the disparate treatment of celebrities and politicians.

When the event was last conducted in 2013, at least 36 pilgrims were murdered in a similar stampede on the festival’s most auspicious day.