30 dead, 90 injured in India festival stampede
"Thirty devotees have unfortunately died," senior police officer Vaibhav Krishna told a news conference. "Ninety injured were taken to the hospital."
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, said.
"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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed people had died in the incident, calling it "extremely sad" and offering his "deepest condolences" to relatives of those killed.
"I wish for the speedy recovery of all injured," he added.
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 typically lead millions in a sin-cleansing ritual of bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.
Instead, officials were strolling the festival with loudhailers pleading with pilgrims to keep away from the disaster site and bathe at other locations.
"We humbly request all devotees do not come to the main bathing spot," said one festival staffer, his voice crackling through his megaphone.
But even as news of the stampede spread, crowds pushed through cordons to move towards the riverbed, shrugging off aggressive orders from police to turn back.
Officials from the Uttar Pradesh state government, responsible for staging the festival, said millions continued to bathe in the hours after the stampede.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told reporters that medical workers were treating those seriously injured in the crush, adding that the situation was "under control".
Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi blamed the disaster on poor crowd control that prioritised the comfort of distinguished visitors.
"Mismanagement and the administration's special focus on VIP movement instead of common devotees are responsible for this tragic incident," he wrote on social media.
Railway police superintendent Ashtabhuja Singh told AFP that special train services taking pilgrims to Prayagraj were still running, after earlier reports that they had been halted due to crowding in the city.
"My family got scared, so we're leaving," attendee Sanjay Nishad said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
Israeli settlers attack West Bank Christian village
TEL AVIV: Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank overnight, torching cars and spray-painting threatening graffiti, the Palestinian Authority said. Jeries Azar, a Taybeh resident and journalist, said that his house and car were targeted in the pre-dawn assault. "I looked outside and saw my car on fire, and they were throwing something at the vehicle and in the direction of the house," Azar said. The Palestinian Authority issued a statement blaming "Israeli colonial settlers" for the attack on Taybeh. Israeli police and the military said in a joint statement that a unit was dispatched to Taybeh and reported "two burned Palestinian vehicles and graffiti". The Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry condemned the attack, calling it "settler terrorism". Germany's ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, also condemned the action, writing on X: "These extremist settlers may claim that God gave them the land. But they are nothing but criminals abhorrent to any faith". Settlers have attacked neighbouring communities in recent months, resulting in three deaths, damage to Palestinian water wells and the displacement of at least one rural herding community. — AFP
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
At least 35 killed in church attack in northeast DR Congo
BUNIA: At least 35 people were killed on Sunday in an attack by Allied Democratic Forces rebels in northeastern DR Congo, ending a months-long period of regional calm, local sources said. The ADF, originally formed from former Ugandan rebels and which pledged allegiance to IS group in 2019, raided a Catholic church in the town of Komanda where worshippers were gathered for prayer, residents said by telephone from Bunia, capital of Ituri province. "Last night around 9 pm, we heard gunfire near the parish church... so far we have seen 35 bodies," Dieudonne Katanabo, an Umoja neighbourhood elder, said. "We have at least 31 dead members of the Eucharistic Crusade movement, with six seriously injured... some young people were kidnapped, we have no news of them," Father Aime Lokana Dhego, parish priest of the Blessed Anuarite parish of Komanda, said. The priest added that seven other bodies had been discovered in the town. Likewise attributing the attack to "ADF rebels", Christophe Munyanderu, coordinator of the local NGO Convention for the Respect of Human Rights, gave a provisional death toll of 38. Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, army spokesman in Ituri, did not comment on the toll but confirmed the attack to AFP, stating that "the enemy is believed to have been identified among ADF" rebels. The bloodshed comes after months of calm in the region of Ituri, bordering Uganda. The last major attack by the ADF was in February, leaving 23 dead in Mambasa territory. The town of Komanda in Irumu territory is a commercial hub linking three other provinces — Tshopo, North Kivu and Maniema. The ADF has killed thousands of civilians and ramped up looting and killing in northeastern DRC despite the deployment both of the Ugandan army alongside Congolese armed forces in the area. At the end of 2021, Kampala and Kinshasa launched a joint military operation against the ADF, dubbed "Shujaa", which has so far been unable to dislodge the group. — AFP
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
Ecuador deports more than 600 inmates as Colombia cries foul
BOGOTA: Colombian authorities said that Ecuador had deported about 600 Colombian prisoners via a land border crossing, after Bogota protested the action came without prior agreement. "In the morning, 603 people arrived, 60 women and 543 men, and we completed the reception of them" at the Rumichaca border crossing in Carchi province, Colombia's acting foreign minister Rosa Villavicencio said. Authorities on both sides of the border had previously reported conflicting figures for the number of prisoners deported. The inmates, wearing orange uniforms, waited in line to reenter their home country under the watchful eye of Ecuadoran police and military personnel. Early in the day, some in shorts and t-shirts did exercises while waiting for their turn to cross the border in the chilly Andean air, saying "We want to cross, we want to cross." On Friday, the government in Bogota lodged a formal complaint with Quito, saying such a move without prior agreement was a violation of international law and an "unfriendly gesture." Ecuador's foreign ministry said on Saturday that Bogota was told about the plan on July 8. The mayor of the border town of Ipiales, Amilcar Pantoja, told the media on Friday that prisoners without pending legal cases in Colombia would be released. Drug trafficking gangs operating in Ecuador — some involving Colombian criminals — have turned the country into one of the most violent in Latin America. The homicide rate has jumped from six per 100,000 people in 2018 to 38 in 2024, among the highest in the region. — AFP
