At least 15 devotees including children were killed and several others injured in a horrific stampede in the world’s largest religious gathering Kumbh Mela in India. It was reported on Wednesday.
The incident occurred as thousands of worshippers gathered for a sacred ritual bath on one of the holiest days of the six-week festival. A doctor at the festival’s purpose-built hospital confirmed the death toll, adding that many injured individuals were being treated on-site.
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 (half a mile) from the accident.
Wednesday marked 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.
The Kumbh Mela, rooted in Hindu mythology, has been held for centuries, symbolizing the battle between deities and demons to control the nectar of immortality. Despite efforts to enhance safety, the festival has witnessed some of the deadliest crowd disasters in history. In 1954, over 400 people were killed in a stampede, and in 2013, 36 lost their lives in a similar tragedy.
