
Moments before deadly stampede at India's Maha Kumbh, devotees pleaded to open more routes
Summary
Devotees say police ignored pleas to open barricades, causing panic
'Police have killed my husband', says woman pilgrim
Death toll more than 50, say authorities
Opposition blames government for prioritising VIPs over safety
Police make changes to managing sprawling festival site
PRAYAGRAJ, India, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Moments before a deadly stampede at the world's biggest religious gathering in India, Hindu devotees queuing to take a spiritual bath in a river said they pleaded with police to open barricaded routes to thin out a surging crowd.
Police did not respond, they said, and soon people squeezed in the massive crowd began fainting, creating panic at the Maha Kumbh Mela Hindu festival in the northern city of Prayagraj.
"People were asking police to open the barricades to other routes as it was suffocating to stand there in that crowd for almost an hour. We couldn't breathe," Jagwanti Devi, who was in the crowd with her family of six, said on Thursday.
"Then suddenly my mother fainted, and some other elderly people also fainted, which created a commotion. We fell down and many people stepped over us," said Devi, wailing next to the bodies of her mother and sister-in-law at a city mortuary.
At least 30 people died in the stampede that broke just after midnight on Wednesday, according to official data, but authorities speaking on condition of anonymity at the mortuary said the death toll was nearly double at more than 50.
A Reuters witness counted at least 39 bodies inside the morgue late Wednesday afternoon, by when some bodies had been handed over to relatives, but police said the excess bodies were unrelated deaths.
80 MILLION CROWD UNEXPECTED
Vaibhav Krishna, a deputy inspector general at the festival, and two other officers, said the crowd of 80 million was four times larger than the expected size and all the devotees wanted to go to the main bathing area at the confluence of three rivers rather than spreading out.
The first alert on police systems of a crowd surge came an hour before midnight on Tuesday and a second alert 45 minutes after midnight, by which time police had sent additional forces to the area, Krishna said.
The first casualty report came half an hour later.
Police said the path leading to the main bathing area is only 50 metres (150 feet) wide and barricaded on either side to avoid people spilling over to other paths used by Hindu ascetics and for quick movement of police vehicles and ambulances.
"We are looking at making some changes now," Krishna told Reuters. He said the sprawling 4,000 hectare (9,990 acres) festival site on the river banks, the equivalent of 7,500 football fields, will be divided into more sectors.
The area where the rivers join "will have additional forces and we will try to reduce the turnaround time of pilgrims in the bathing area"," he said.
At present, the confluence area is manned by 220 police in addition to volunteers who manage crowds and try to maintain a standard 15 minutes of bathing time.
'POLICE KILLED MY HUSBAND'
Four other eyewitnesses recounted the chaotic scenes with hundreds of people climbing over barricades and falling over one another in between screams and cries of women and children.
"Police have killed my husband, they did not make proper arrangements," wailed Kanchan Kopde, as her family consoled her outside the morgue at Moti Lal Nehru Medical College.
Krishna said police were also injured in the incident while doing all they could to control the crowd. Another officer said the crowd management strategy was developed after months of deliberation with experts, but added it might need reconsideration.
The Hindu festival - held every 12 years - is expected to draw some 400 million devotees in 2025, officials estimate. The Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, in comparison, drew 1.8 million people last year.
Opposition Congress party has blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for improper arrangements and giving greater focus to arrangements for celebrities and politicians rather than ordinary people.
After the stampede, the festival administration issued an order to discontinue special protocols such as barricading of roads to allow movement of VIP personnel.
Shweta Arya, 21, a medical student who with her group of five friends was among those who got trapped, said the festival administration was to blame.
"It was a clear failure on their part. Many lives would have been saved if they had just removed the barricades to let us through," Arya said.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Russian court orders house arrest of politician accused of discrediting the Russian army
MOSCOW, June 11 (Reuters) - A court in Pskov said on Wednesday it had ruled that opposition politician Lev Shlosberg be placed under house arrest for two months and face unspecified restrictions on his activities at the request of state prosecutors. Shlosberg was detained on Tuesday and charged with discrediting the Russian army after describing the war in Ukraine as a game of "bloody chess", his party said. The 61-year-old made the comment in a video debate in January in which he urged an end to the war. The liberal Yabloko party, of which Shlosberg is a senior member, said his arrest was linked to those remarks. He denies the charge, it said. The court service of the Pskov region, which borders Estonia, on Wednesday published an image of Shlosberg at a court hearing standing up inside a courtroom cage. It noted that the authorities had already designated Shlosberg "a foreign agent," a label which carries negative Soviet-era connotations and complicates designees' lives. Shlosberg, one of relatively few opposition politicians remaining in the country, faces up to five years in jail if convicted.


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
US pushes Mexico to prosecute, extradite politicians with cartel ties
MEXICO CITY, June 11 (Reuters) - The Trump administration is pressuring Mexico to investigate and prosecute politicians with suspected links to organized crime, and to extradite them to the United States if there are criminal charges to answer there, according to sources familiar with the matter. The requests - raised at least three times by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his team in bilateral meetings and conversations with Mexican officials - seek to push President Claudia Sheinbaum's government to investigate current elected officials and launch an unprecedented crackdown on narco corruption, four people familiar with the matter said. In their discussions, the U.S. officials have called for action against several politicians from Sheinbaum's own Morena party and threatened to levy further tariffs if Mexico did not take action, two of the sources said. The conversations have not been previously reported. President Donald Trump's administration has justified its declarations of tariffs on Mexico, opens new tab on the growing influence of the cartels over the government. A crackdown - potentially targeting high-ranking elected officials while they are in office - would mark a dramatic escalation of Mexico's efforts against drug corruption. But it carries political risks for Sheinbaum, as some of the allegations involve members of her own party, a member of her security cabinet told Reuters. The U.S. first raised the request at a meeting in Washington on February 27 led by Rubio and Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente, the four people familiar with the matter said. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials from the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice as well as Treasury attended the meeting, the four people said. Mexico's Attorney General Alejandro Gertz and Secretary of Security Omar Garcia Harfuch were also at the meeting. The Mexican Presidency, foreign ministry, Attorney General's Office and Security Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the talks. The White House, State Department, Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security also did not reply to Reuters questions. Mexico sent 29 cartel figures to the U.S. in late February - the largest such handover in years - following Trump's threats to impose across-the-board tariffs on Mexican goods. The possibility of expediting the capture and/or deportation of priority DEA and FBI targets was also discussed, two of the sources said. As part of the discussions, two of the people familiar with the matter said, U.S. officials floated the idea of appointing a U.S. fentanyl czar to liaise directly with Sheinbaum on progress to combat the deadly synthetic opioid. Washington also pressed Mexico for more thorough inspections of U.S.-bound cargo and travelers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Although Mexico's federal prosecutor's office is independent of Sheinbaum's administration under the country's constitution, Washington has long accused Mexico of protecting politicians alleged to have links to the cartels. Serving state governors and federal lawmakers are immune from prosecution for most crimes and can only be prosecuted for serious federal crimes like drug trafficking or racketeering if authorized by Mexico's Congress. Reuters could not determine if the U.S. provided Mexico with a list of politicians suspected of links to organized crime, or evidence against them. But two of the sources said five current Morena officials and one former senator were mentioned - including Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Avila. Avila announced on her social media accounts on May 11 that the U.S. had revoked her and her husband's tourist visas. She did not provide a reason and said canceling the visa was "an injustice." The State Department and U.S. embassy in Mexico City haven't commented on the case. Going after serving politicians has long been considered a red line in Mexico, five diplomatic officials said. While Mexican politicians have occasionally been arrested and prosecuted for corruption in the United States, this has only happened after they left office. In 2020, when former Mexican Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos was arrested at Los Angeles Airport at the request of the DEA it sparked a diplomatic crisis and halted co-operation between the two nations on drug trafficking crimes. The U.S. dropped the charges and Cienfuegos returned to Mexico where he has not faced prosecution.


Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Prosecutors in Philippine VP's impeachment say trial must proceed
MANILA, June 11 (Reuters) - Philippine prosecutors said on Wednesday there was no stopping the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, expressing bemusement at why the Senate convened a court before swiftly returning the case to the lower house. The impeachment of Duterte, a likely contender for the 2028 presidency, has dominated headlines in the Philippines this year after a high-profile grudge, opens new tab match between her and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr that spiralled into a bitter battle for power and influence. The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in February to impeach Duterte for betrayal of public trust and high crimes, referring the case to the Senate to convene a trial. Duterte insists the impeachment is politically motivated and denies wrongdoing. But the Senate on Tuesday sent the case back to the lower house, requiring it to certify that it was lawful, a move some critics said was a tactic to try to thwart the impeachment. The decision prompted wider outrage, including from legal and church groups, who said it was a betrayal of the constitution and a shirking of the Senate's responsibility to hold public officials accountable. Congresswoman Gerville Luistro, a member of the impeachment prosecution panel, said the lower house had fulfilled its duty and the Senate's issuance of a summons to Duterte to answer charges meant it already had jurisdiction over the case. "No one can stop this anymore," Luistro told a press conference, adding the prosecution's case was strong and backed by ample evidence. "We are certain that the complaint is strictly and fully compliant with the requirements of the constitution." The popular daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte has been accused of budget irregularities, amassing unexplained wealth, and threatening the lives of Marcos, the first lady and and the house speaker. She faces a lifetime political ban if convicted. Senator Imee Marcos, the president's sister and now an ally of the Duterte, said there was justification in the Senate's decision and called the impeachment bid a political manoeuvre to keep Duterte out of the 2028 presidential race. Marcos has distanced himself from the impeachment and his office on Wednesday said the president was busy and not following the trial. Duterte's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Marcos, who is limited to a single term, is expected to groom a successor who can preserve his influence and legacy and defeat Duterte if she is acquitted and runs for the presidency. Outside the upper house on Wednesday, hundreds of protesters braved the rain, carrying banners demanding accountability from Duterte and calling the senators "cowards" and "traitors". The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, a prominent church group, said the decision was a betrayal of the public trust. "Allow the constitutional process to proceed without obstruction. If there is nothing to hide, there is nothing to fear," its president said.