Dozens of people were killed in a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India yesterday as tens of millions of Hindus gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters on the most auspicious day of a six-week festival.
Reuters counted 39 bodies in the morgue of the local hospital, where bodies were still being brought in 12 hours after crowds surged towards the confluence of rivers where immersion is considered especially sacred.
Two police sources said all 39 had been killed in the crush at the world’s biggest gathering of humanity. Three police sources confirmed a death toll of nearly 40.
“More bodies are coming in. We have nearly 40 bodies here. We are transferring them out as well and handing over to families one by one,” one of the sources said at the Moti Lal Nehru Medical College hospital.
Senior police officer Vaibhav Krishna told reporters that 90 people were taken to the hospital after the stampede, of whom 30 had died.
Distraught relatives queued up to identify those killed by the stampede, which triggered calls for authorities and politicians to be held accountable. Some witnesses spoke of a huge push that caused devotees to fall on each other, while others said closure of routes to the water brought the dense crowd to a standstill and caused people to collapse due to suffocation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences to “devotees who have lost their loved ones”.
In the aftermath, some people sat on the ground crying, while others stepped over belongings left by those trying to escape the crush.
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