Stampede at India’s Kumbh Mela Hindu mega-festival leaves at least 30

Prayagraj, India — A pre-dawn stampede at the world’s largest religious gathering killed at least 30 people in India on Wednesday, with many more injured after a surging crowd spilled out of a police cordon and trampled bystanders.

Deadly crowd incidents are a frequent occurrence at Indian religious festivals, including the Kumbh Mela, which attracts tens of millions of devotees every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj.

As pilgrims rushed to participate in a sacred day of ritual bathing, people sleeping and sitting on the ground near the rivers told AFP they were trampled by huge swells of devotees coming towards them in the darkness.

“The entire crowd fell on top of me, trampling me as it moved forward,” pilgrim Renu Devi, 48, told AFP. “When the crowd surged, elderly people and women were crushed, and no one came forward to help.”

Rescue teams carrying victims from the accident site weaved through piles of clothes, shoes and other discarded belongings. Police were seen carrying stretchers bearing the bodies of victims draped with thick blankets.

“Thirty devotees have unfortunately died,” senior police officer Vaibhav Krishna told reporters during an evening news conference at the festival. “Ninety injured were taken to the hospital.”

Krishna’s briefing came nearly 18 hours after the stampede and was the first official death toll given by authorities.

Festivities had otherwise been allowed to continue almost as normal during the day, with millions still trekking to the riverbanks to immerse themselves in the water.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the stampede “extremely sad” and offered his “deepest condolences” to relatives of those killed, adding his wishes “for the speedy recovery of all injured.”  

Dozens of relatives were anxiously waiting for news outside a large tent serving as a purpose-built hospital for the festival near the disaster site.

The six-week Kumbh Mela is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar. Wednesday marks one of the holiest days in the festival, when saffron-clad holy men lead millions in a sin-cleansing ritual of bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in tandem with a planetary alignment in the Solar System.

Officials had attempted to divert crowds away from the disaster site, instructing…