Stampede at Maha Kumbh Mela Claims Nearly 40 Lives, Local Police
A tragic stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India on Wednesday led to the deaths of nearly 40 people, according to police sources cited by Reuters. The incident occurred as tens of millions of pilgrims gathered to bathe in the sacred river waters on what is considered the most auspicious day of the six-week festival.
More than 12 hours after the disaster, bodies were still being brought to the Moti Lal Nehru Medical College hospital morgue, although the government had yet to release official casualty figures.
'More bodies are coming in. We have nearly 40 bodies here. We are transferring them out as well and handing them over to families one by one,' a police source stated. Senior police officer Vaibhav Krishna, when approached for comment, said authorities were focused on managing the crowd and could not yet confirm the official toll.
Distraught relatives gathered at the morgue, waiting to identify their loved ones who perished in the stampede. The chaos reportedly erupted when crowds surged toward the confluence of three rivers, a site of immense religious significance where immersion is believed to bring spiritual purification.
Eyewitnesses described a massive push that resulted in people falling over one another. Some claimed that the closure of access routes to the river intensified the congestion, leading to suffocation and collapses within the dense crowd.
'There was commotion, everybody started pushing, pulling, climbing over one another. My mother collapsed... then my sister-in-law. People ran over them,' said Jagwanti Devi, 40, as she sat in an ambulance, mourning her lost family members.
Doctors at Prayagraj's SRN Hospital, where some of the injured were taken, reported that many of the deceased had suffered heart attacks or had pre-existing conditions such as diabetes. 'People came in with fractures, broken bones... Some collapsed on the spot and were brought in dead,' said a hospital official who requested anonymity.
As investigations continue, authorities are under pressure to ensure better crowd control measures at future religious gatherings of this magnitude.
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