PRAYAGRAJ, India (AP) — Local media reported that a stampede occurred early Wednesday in Prayagraj city, northern India, as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to take a holy bath in the river during the massive Maha Kumbh festival. Several individuals were feared deceased, and numerous others were injured.
Families in distress assembled outside a temporary hospital to inquire about the whereabouts of their missing relatives, while rescuers assisted the injured and police attempted to control the masses.
The scene of the stampede was littered with the personal possessions of individuals, including backpacks, blankets, and clothing. The cause of the pandemonium and the number of individuals injured were not immediately apparent. It was reported on several local news websites that ten individuals had passed away.
At the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati rivers, authorities anticipated that a record 100 million devotees would participate in a ritual bath on Wednesday, which was a sacrosanct day during the six-week festival. The primary attraction of the ritualistic bathing is the presence of thousands of Hindu ascetics who appear in massive processions to the confluence to take a holy dip in the waters, their faces smeared with ash.
The incident did not seem to have deterred millions of Hindu pilgrims, who continued to throng the site despite police officials’ warnings to stay away from the confluence over megaphones.
In addition, Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, encouraged individuals to refrain from proceeding to the confluence and instead bathe at alternative riverbanks. Adityanath did not mention the stampede in a post on social platform X, but he cautioned individuals not to “pay attention to any rumors.”
The world’s largest religious gathering, the Maha Kumbh festival, commences on January 13 and is conducted every 12 years. In total, authorities anticipate that over 400 million individuals will visit the pilgrimage site.
Hindus are of the opinion that a dip in the confluence of three rivers—two of which are worldly and one of which is mythical—will absolve them of their past transgressions and terminate their reincarnation process..
The festival has been hailed as the world’s largest religious gathering by Indian authorities. The festival has already attracted nearly 150 million attendees, including Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah, as well as luminaries such as Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
In order to facilitate visitors, the authorities constructed a vast tent city along the riverbanks. It is equipped with 3,000 kitchens, 150,000 toilets, roads, electricity, water, communication masts, and 11 hospitals.
In order to regulate throngs and preserve order, approximately 50,000 security personnel are deployed throughout the city. Additionally, authorities installed over 2,500 cameras, some of which are propelled by AI, to transmit crowd movement and density data to four central control rooms. From these control rooms, officials can promptly deploy personnel to prevent stampedes.
In 2013, a stampede at a train terminal in Prayagraj resulted in the deaths of at least 40 pilgrims who were participating in the same festival.
It is not uncommon for fatal stampedes to occur during Indian religious festivals, as large crowds congregate in limited areas with inadequate infrastructure and inadequate safety measures. In July, a tent in Hathras town was the site of a rampage that resulted in the deaths of at least 116 individuals, the majority of whom were women and children. The incident occurred during a religious gathering in northern India.
