More than 7 killed in stampede at India's Maha Kumbh festival
PRAYAGRAJ - More than seven people were killed and around 10 injured in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival in north India's Uttar Pradesh state on Wednesday (Jan 29), said an official, as tens of millions gathered to take a holy dip.
Drone footage showed millions of devotees, shoulder to shoulder, arriving in the pre-dawn dark for the holy dip to mark the most auspicious day of the Maha Kumbh Mela.
Video and photographs after the stampede showed bodies being taken away on stretchers and people sitting on the ground crying, while others stepped over a carpet of discarded belongings left by people as they tried to escape the stampede.
A Reuters witness saw several dead bodies as he followed dozens of ambulances rushing towards the river bank where the incident occurred.
Officials said an initial stampede which occurred around 1am local time (3.30am SGT) was "not serious", but its cause was unclear.
However, witnesses said devotees trying to escape it were caught in another stampede at an exit. They then returned towards the pontoon bridges looking for another way out only to find it had been closed by authorities.
"I saw many people falling and getting walked on by the crowd...many children and women getting lost, crying for help," said Ravin, a devotee who gave only his first name and had traveled from the financial capital Mumbai for the festival.
A Rapid Action Force (RAF) - a special unit called in during crisis situations - had been deployed to bring the situation under control and rescue efforts were underway, officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and called for "immediate support measures", reported news agency ANI, in which