Maha Kumbh stampede | Authorities confirm 30 deaths in tragedy even as crores still remain at Prayagraj

CM Adityanath also appealed to the seers and saints not to go for bathing at the sangam and remain in their camps and take bath at the nearest ghats. The chief minister also chaired a meeting of the officials to review the situation.

Lucknow: At least thirty devotees, including women, were killed and 60 others injured in a stampede near the Sangam ((the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers) bank at Mahakumbh during the second Amrit Snan on the occasion of ‘Mauni Amavasya’ on Wednesday.

Kumbh Mela DIG Vaibhav Krishna told reporters at Mahakumbh Nagar in Prayagraj that 30 devotees were killed in the stampede of whom 25 have been identified. Some reports put the number of dead at 39. Krishna said that the injured were admitted to the hospital and the best possible medical care was being provided to them.

He said that the stampede happened after the barricades broke following pressure from the crowd during the Amrit Snan.

''Between 1 and 2 AM, a massive crowd gathered and the barricades on the other side broke after which the crowd ran over the devotees who were waiting to take holy dip at the sangam,'' he added. The deceased included four devotees from Karnataka.

The death toll was released by the official several hours after the incident. While prime minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences over the deaths, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath said earlier in the day that some people were injured in the stampede. A senior UP police official even denied that there was a stampede and said that there was overcrowding in the Sangam area.

The stampede took place on the ‘Sangam’ bank around 2 am, when millions of devotees had gathered there for the holy dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya.

Visuals showed ambulances leaving the Mahakumbh area and bodies lying in the hospital as people ran helter-skelter and were seen looking for their near and dear ones in the melee. Pictures of people crying and the injured being carried on stretchers went viral on social media platforms.

Although it was not clear how the stampede occurred, eye witnesses said that it started after a few devotees, especially women, fell down owing to the huge crowd at the sangam. ‘’The crowd suddenly surged around 2 AM.....some people fell down and then there was a stampede and the people started running trampling those who had fallen down,’’ said a devotee, who was present there.

As the news of the stampede spread, the Akharas, which were scheduled to take the holy dip at the sangam during the wee hours, cancelled their bath and appealed to the devotees not to proceed toward the sangam. The ‘Amrit Snan’, however, started later in the day after the crowds of devotees thinned.

Modi spoke four times to chief minister Yogi Adityanath and reviewed the situation. Adityanath also appealed to the devotees not to proceed toward the ‘sangam nose’ where the crowds of devotees had gathered for the ‘snan’.

‘’Don’t try to move toward the sangam nose....take bath at other banks on the Ganga...don’t pay attention to the rumours and follow the instructions,’’ the chief minister said.

Adityanath also appealed to the seers and saints not to go for bathing at the sangam and remain in their camps and take bath at the nearest ghats. The chief minister also chaired a meeting of the officials to review the situation.

Sources said that the officials were not allowing the devotees arriving to visit the Mahakumbh from other parts of the state and country to enter Prayagraj. The vehicles carrying the devotees were stopped outside the city and other borders of the district. An estimated 80 million devotees were expected to bathe at the sangam on Mauni Amavasya.

Former Congress president and leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi expressed grief over the tragedy and blamed the VIP Culture for the incident. Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati also condoled the deaths and urged the state government to take measures to provide all possible medical care to the devotees.

Akhilesh demanded deployment of the Army to manage the crowd. ‘’Those responsible for the tragedy must resign and the Army should be handed over the task of managing the crowd....the reality of the world class arrangements stands exposed,’’ he added.