By Shakir Husain
NEW DELHI, Jan 29 (Bernama) -- At least 40 people have died and dozens injured in a stampede at a bathing ritual during the Hindu festival of Maha Kumbh in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Millions have gathered in the city of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, to participate in the Kumbh Mela, for a holy dip at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.
Chaos ensued at the confluence as crowds surged to enter the river to bathe in the early hours of Wednesday on Mauni Amavasya, one of the auspicious days during the 45-day festival that runs until February 26.
Bodies, bags, and belongings lay on the ground as people screamed and ran in panic, eyewitnesses told local media.
"We came in a batch of 60 people in two buses... Suddenly there was pushing in the crowd, and we got trapped. A lot of us fell down and the crowd went uncontrolled. There was no chance for escape, there was pushing from all sides," one pilgrim from Karnataka state said in a video.
Visuals on social media showed wailing relatives and many bodies in the midst of luggage and clothes.
Relatives held on to the bodies of their loved ones for fear of losing them in the commotion, which revived memories of the 1954 Kumbh stampede when hundreds lost their lives.
There was confusion about the exact number of victims more than 14 hours after the incident.
At least 20 bodies had been handed over to the relatives of the deceased, prominent Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar reported on its website in the afternoon.
Prayagraj is hosting about 100 million pilgrims from different parts of India, according to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
There was crowd pressure but the situation was under control, he said in a video posted on X in the morning but did not mention the death toll or the number of injured people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of lives in Prayagraj, which was the official confirmation that deaths had occurred in the stampede.
Modi said he spoke to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and all necessary steps are being taken to help those affected by the tragedy.
-- BERNAMA
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
