Millions take 'holy dip' a day after fatal stampede
PRAYAGRAJ: Millions of devout Hindus thronged the northern Indian city of Prayagraj on Thursday for the Maha Kumbh festival, a day after dozens died in a stampede in the holy centre on the most auspicious day of the six-week event. Train and bus stations in the city saw a surge in crowds as people continued to arrive for the festival, although some devotees remained nervous after the deadly crash. Krishna Soni, a student from the western state of Rajasthan's Bikaner city, and his family of eight linked themselves together with string to ensure they would not lose each other in the massive crowd.
"We are walking very carefully and trying to avoid the crowded areas," he said. Police said 30 people were killed in the stampede at the world's biggest gathering of humanity and 60 were injured, but sources said the death toll was more than 50 and a witness counted at least 39 bodies in the morgue. — Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
3 days ago
- Observer
Three killed, 49 wounded in air attacks on Ukraine
KYIV: Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital in the early hours of Friday and three people were killed, Ukrainian officials said, as powerful explosions reverberated across the country. The attacks followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via US President Donald Trump, that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft in attacks deep inside Russia. Kyiv's military administration said three people were killed in the attacks on Kyiv after the mayor initially put the death toll at four. The three were first responders who had rushed to the scene of one of the strikes, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. "Overnight, Russia 'responded' to its destroyed aircraft... by attacking civilians in Ukraine.... Multi-storey buildings hit. Energy infrastructure damaged," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said 49 people nationwide had been injured in the overnight attacks, which also struck several other towns and cities as well as Kyiv, as he called on Ukraine's Western allies to ramp up pressure on Russia. The air force said Russia had used 407 drones, one of the largest numbers recorded in a single attack. Forty-five cruise and ballistic missiles were also fired, it said. Kyiv's metro transport system was disrupted by a Russian strike that hit and damaged tracks between stations, Kyiv's military administration said. The state rail company said it was also diverting some trains due to rail damage outside the city. Reuters witnesses reported a series of booming explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact sites. Some Kyiv residents sought shelter in metro stations, or in underground car parks. In the capital's Solomianskyi district, a Russian drone slammed into the side of an apartment building, leaving a gaping hole and burn marks, a Reuters photographer at the scene said. Falling concrete blocks from the building crushed cars parked below. Two police investigators were examining what appeared to be the drone's engine. Earlier in the night, Reuters reporters heard the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire. Zelenskiy called for concerted pressure on Russia. "If someone is not applying pressure and is giving the war more time to take lives — that is complicity and accountability. We must act decisively," he wrote on X. As well as Kyiv, Russian forces also struck industrial facilities and infrastructure in the western city of Ternopil, leaving parts of it without power, mayor Serhii Nadal said. The regional administration said the attack had injured 10 people and recommended that residents temporarily stay inside due to a high concentration of toxic substances in the air after a fire. Five people were also injured in the northwestern city of Lutsk where an attack damaged private homes, educational institutions and a government building, according to mayor Ihor Polishchuk. Ukrainian military said it had launched a pre-emptive strike overnight on the Engels and Dyagilevo airfields in the Russian regions of Saratov and Ryazan, in addition to striking at least three fuel reservoirs. In one of the most audacious attacks of the war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian spies last weekend destroyed some of Russia's strategic bomber aircraft on the ground using quadcopter drones hidden in wooden sheds. After a phone conversation with Putin on Wednesday, Trump said the Kremlin was planning an unspecified response to the Ukrainian attack on the Russian air bases. — Reuters
Observer
6 days ago
- Observer
27 Palestinians killed near Gaza aid site
CAIRO/JERUSALEM: At least 27 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire near a food distribution site in southern Gaza on Tuesday, health officials said, in a third day running of chaos and bloodshed to blight the aid operation. The Israeli military said its forces had opened fire on a group of people they viewed as a threat after they left a designated access route near the distribution centre in Rafah and approached their positions. It added it was still investigating what had happened. The deaths came hours after Israel said three of its soldiers had been killed in fighting in northern Gaza, as its forces pushed ahead with a months-long offensive against Hamas militants that has laid much of the enclave to waste. Reuters could not independently verify the reports in northern and southern Gaza. An International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson said its field hospital in Rafah had received 184 casualties, adding that 19 of those were dead upon arrival, and eight died of their wounds shortly after. Video showed injured people, including at least one woman, being rushed to a medical centre on carts drawn by donkeys. Health officials said at least 18 more Palestinians were killed in other military strikes in the territory on Tuesday. The United Nations human rights office in Geneva said on Tuesday the impediment of access to food relief for civilians in Gaza might constitute a war crime and described attacks on people trying to access food aid as "unconscionable". The head of the UN agency, Volker Turk, urged a prompt and impartial investigation into the killings. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer denied that civilians had been targeted. "The IDF is doing everything in its power to allow Gazans to get to the humanitarian aid. The IDF is not preventing the arrival of Gazans at humanitarian aid sites. Indeed, we are encouraging it," Mencer said. The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation launched its first distribution sites last week in an effort to alleviate widespread hunger amongst Gaza's 2.3 million population, most of whom have been forced to abandon their homes to flee fighting. "This was an area well beyond our secure distribution site and control. We recognise the difficult nature of the situation and advise all civilians to remain in the safe corridor when travelling to our distribution sites." Palestinians who collected food boxes on Tuesday described scenes of pandemonium, with no-one overseeing the handover of supplies or checking IDs, as crowds jostled for provisions. "It is complete chaos and humiliation, and people have no choice but to keep coming because there is no food in Gaza," said one Palestinian, who declined to be named, adding he was lucky to have survived the shootings. On Sunday, Palestinian and international officials said at least 31 people were killed and dozens more injured. On Monday, three Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli fire. - Reuters
Observer
6 days ago
- Observer
Over 200 prisoners break out of Pakistani jail
KARACHI: More than 200 inmates escaped from a jail in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi late on Monday when they overpowered prison guards after being allowed to leave their cells following a series of earthquakes, local officials and police said. The jailbreak began just before midnight and continued into the early hours of Tuesday after hundreds of prisoners were allowed into the courtyard of the District Malir prison because of the tremors, Zia-ul-Hasan Lanjar, the provincial law minister, told reporters at the scene on Tuesday. Police said the prisoners snatched guns from prison staff and forced open the main gate after a shootout, evading paramilitary soldiers. At least one prisoner was killed and three guards wounded, said Provincial Police Chief Ghulam Nabi Memon. "I heard the firing for quite some time and then some time later prisoners made their way out running in all directions," Bukhsh, a private security guard at a residential complex opposite the jail who goes by a single name, said. He added that some of the prisoners entered the apartment complex before being taken away by police. — Reuters
