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CNN
29-01-2025
- General
- CNN
Multiple people feared dead in crowd crush at India's Kumbh Mela religious festival
Multiple people were feared dead in a crowd crush at the world's largest religious gathering in India on Wednesday, as tens of millions of devotees went to bathe in a river on one of the most sacred days of a Hindu festival. The crush at the Maha Kumbh Mela in the city of Prayagraj occurred after a barrier broke, according to Akanksha Rana, special executive officer for the festival. Indian authorities have not confirmed the number of casualties. Rana said early Wednesday that 'several people' had been injured and taken to hospital but that officials were still assessing the extent of the damage. Reuters and local media reported witnesses seeing several dead bodies near the river bank where the incident occurred, and photos from Reuters showed bodies being carried from the site on stretchers. Video by the news agency showed ambulances racing through huge crowds of people and casualties being brought to a nearby hospital. Security personnel could be seen helping devotees as scattered blankets and belongings lay strewn on the ground. Speaking to local media, devotees said the incident took place around 1:30 a.m. local time and described chaotic scenes with people running in different directions and others falling over. Witnesses said families were separated in the surge of people and some remain missing. 'Suddenly, there was a huge crowd and we got stuck somehow. People started pushing aggressively and we fell,' one woman told local media from outside the hospital. The incident occurred as about 100 million Hindu devotees from around the world were expected to visit the site on Wednesday and take a holy dip in the sacred waters in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, according to local media reports. Wednesday marks Mauni Amavasya, one of the most significant days of the Maha Kumbh Mela festival, when followers come to bathe in the Triveni Sangam, the confluence of three holy rivers – the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati – to purify their sins and take another step closer to 'spiritual liberation.' Drone footage shared by Reuters showed huge numbers of people already arriving at the site in the early hours. The festival is considered the world's largest peaceful gathering of people. Over six weeks, a staggering 400 million people are expected to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, on the banks of Prayagraj. The office of the state's chief minister Yogi Adityanath told devotees on Wednesday to avoid bathing at the sangam, where the rivers meet, and instead take dips at points along the river closest to them. Crowd crushes at religious gatherings in India are not uncommon, and deadly incidents have occurred in the past, often highlighting a lack of adequate crowd control and safety measures. In 2013, dozens of people were killed and injured in a crowd crush at a railway station in Allahabad as pilgrims gathered for that year's Kumbh Mela. Ahead of the festival in Prayagraj, officials said extra safety measures had been put in place to protect visitors, including a security ring with checkpoints around the city staffed by more than 1,000 police officers. The central government said over 2,700 security cameras powered by artificial intelligence would also be positioned around the city, monitored by hundreds of experts at key locations. Aerial drones were touted to provide surveillance from above and, for the first time, underwater drones capable of diving up to 100 meters were being activated to provide round-the-clock cover, the government added. The Kumbh draws upon Hindu mythology and the legend of demons and gods fighting over a pitcher containing the elixir of immortality. During the fight, four drops from the pitcher fell on Earth, in Prayagraj, Nashik, Haridwar and Ujjain, which host the festival in rotation. The gathering is particularly well known for attracting large crowds of Hindu holy men, known as sadhus, who travel from across the country. Every 12 years the festival carries the prefix 'Maha,' which means great, as it's the largest gathering of the Kumbh Mela that's held every three years in one of four cities. This year, the festival carries greater significance due to a rare alignment of celestial bodies that happens every 144 years. This is a developing story and will be updated. CNN's Aishwarya S Iyer contributed reporting.
Khaleej Times
29-01-2025
- General
- Khaleej Times
India: 15 dead in stampede at Kumbh Mela, world's largest religious gathering
A stampede at the world's largest religious gathering in India killed at least 15 people with many more injured, a doctor at the Kumbh Mela festival told AFP Wednesday. Deadly crowd crushes are a notorious feature of Indian religious festivals and the Kumbh Mela, with its unfathomable throngs of devotees, already had a grim track record before the latest incident in the early hours of the morning. The six-week festival is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar, and millions of people had been expected to participate in a sacred day of ritual bathing on Wednesday. "At least 15 people have died for now. Others are being treated," said the doctor at the festival site in Prayagraj, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to media. Rescue teams were seen working with pilgrims to carry victims away from the site of the accident over ground strewn with clothes, shoes and other discarded belongings. Police officers moved through the area carrying stretchers bearing the bodies of victims draped with thick blankets. Dozens of relatives were anxiously waiting for news outside a large tent serving as a purpose-built hospital for the festival around one kilometre from the accident. Wednesday marks one of the holiest days in the festival, when saffron-clad holy men were due to lead millions into a procession of sin-cleansing ritual bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. But instead officials were strolling the festival site with loudhailers urging pilgrims to keep away from the waterways. "We humbly request all devotees do not come to the main bathing spot," said one festival staffer, his voice crackling through his megaphone. "Please cooperate with security personnel." Numerous pilgrims decided to make an early exit from the festival. "I heard the news and saw the bathing site," attendee Sanjay Nishad told AFP. "My family got scared, so we're leaving." Local government official Akanksha Rana told an Indian news agency that the stampede began after the collapse of some crowd control barriers. Pilgrim Malti Pandey told AFP that he was on his way to bathe in the river along a barricaded walking route when the stampede began. "Suddenly a crowd started pushing and many people were crushed," the 42-year-old said. The Kumbh Mela is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality. Organisers have likened the scale of this year's festival to that of a temporary country, forecasting up to 400 million pilgrims to visit before the final day on February 26. Mindful of the risk of deadly crowd accidents, police this year installed hundreds of cameras at the festival site and on roads leading to the sprawling encampment, mounted on poles and a fleet of overhead drones. The surveillance network is fed into a sophisticated command and control centre that is meant to alert staff if sections of the crowd get so concentrated that they pose a safety threat. More than 400 people died after being trampled or drowned at the Kumbh Mela on a single day of the festival in 1954, one of the largest tolls in a crowd-related disaster globally. Another 36 people were crushed to death in 2013, the last time the festival was staged in the northern city of Prayagraj.
Times of Oman
29-01-2025
- Times of Oman
Stampede-like situation at Mahakumbh in Prayagraj; 15 people feared dead
Prayagraj: 15 people are feared dead after a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela Uttar Pradesh Prayagraj on Wednesday as scores of people turned up for a holy dip in the Ganga on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya. Mauni Amavasya is on one of the holiest days of the event, and lakhs had gathered at the site. A 'stampede-like' situation arose at Mahakumbh in Prayagraj in the early hours of Wednesday, according to Special Executive Officer Akanksha Rana. On the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, over 80 to 100 million people are expected to gather at the Sangam Ghats. The officer mentioned that the incident happened after some barriers in the area broke, leading to injuries. However, the injured were taken to the hospital and getting treatment and reiterated that it is not a serious situation. "On the Sangam routes, a stampede-like situation arose after some barriers broke. Some people have been injured. They are under treatment. It is not a serious situation," she told reporters.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Yahoo
15 dead in India after stampede at Hindu mega-festival
A stampede at the world's largest religious gathering in India killed at least 15 people with many more injured, a doctor at the Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj told AFP Wednesday. Deadly crowd crushes are a notorious feature of Indian religious festivals and the Kumbh Mela, with its unfathomable throngs of devotees, already had a grim track record of deadly crowd crushes before the latest incident overnight. The six-week festival is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar, and millions of people were expected to be present on Wednesday for a sacred day of ritual bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. "At least 15 people have died for now. Others are being treated," said the doctor in Prayagraj city, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to media. Rescue teams were seen working with pilgrims to carry victims away from the site of the accident. Local government official Akanksha Rana told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency that the stampede began after crowd control barriers "broke". Pilgrim Malti Pandey, 42, told AFP that he was on his way to bathe in the river along a barricaded walking route when the stampede began. "Suddenly a crowed started pushing and many people were crushed," he said. The Kumbh Mela is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality. Organisers have likened the scale of this year's festival to that of a temporary country, forecasting up to 400 million pilgrims to visit before the final day on February 26. Mindful of the risk of deadly crowd accidents, police this year installed hundreds of cameras at the festival site and on roads leading to the sprawling encampment, mounted on poles and a fleet of overhead drones. The surveillance network is fed into a sophisticated command and control centre that is meant to alert staff if sections of the crowd get so concentrated that they pose a safety threat. More than 400 people died after being trampled or drowned at the Kumbh Mela on a single day of the festival in 1954, one of the largest tolls in a crowd-related disaster globally. Another 36 people were crushed to death in 2013, the last time the festival was staged in the northern city of Prayagraj. dm-bb/gle/rsc
CNN
28-01-2025
- CNN
Several injured in crowd crush at India's Kumbh Mela religious festival
A crowd crush has injured several people at the world's largest religious festival in India, organizers reported Wednesday. The crush at the Maha Kumbh Mela in the city of Prayagraj occurred after a barrier broke, according to Akanksha Rana, special executive officer for the festival. 'Several people are injured and receiving treatment,' she said, adding that some of the injured had been taken to the Intensive Care Unit. Asked whether any people had died or how many had been impacted, she said officials were still assessing the extent of the damage. Millions of Hindu devotees are bathing in sacred waters at the gathering in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Over six weeks, a staggering 400 million people are expected to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, on the riverbanks of Prayagraj. Crowd crushes at religious gatherings in India are not uncommon, and deadly incidents have occurred in the past, often highlighting a lack of adequate crowd control and safety measures. In 2013, dozens of people were killed and injured in a crowd crush at a railway station in Allahabad as pilgrims gathered for that year's Kumbh Mela. Ahead of the festival in Prayagraj, officials said extra safety measures had been put in place to protect visitors, including a security ring with checkpoints around the city staffed by more than 1,000 police officers. The central government said over 2,700 security cameras powered by artificial intelligence would also be positioned around the city, monitored by hundreds of experts at key locations. Aerial drones were touted to provide surveillance from above and, for the first time, underwater drones capable of diving up to 100 meters were being activated to provide round-the-clock cover, the government added. This is a developing story and will be updated.
