At least 15 people have died in a crowd crush at India's Kumbh Mela festival, one of the world's largest religious gatherings, officials confirmed early Wednesday morning.
The tragedy unfolded at the festival site in Prayagraj during what was meant to be one of the holiest days of the six-week Hindu celebration.
A doctor at the festival site, speaking anonymously as they were not authorised to talk to media said that many more were injured in the incident.
Rescue teams were seen carrying victims through an area littered with discarded clothes, shoes and other belongings.
Local government official Akanksha Rana said that the stampede began after the collapse of crowd control barriers
Reuters
Dozens of anxious relatives waited for news outside a purpose-built hospital tent approximately one kilometre from the accident site.
Local government official Akanksha Rana said that the stampede began after the collapse of crowd control barriers.
The incident occurred on what was meant to be one of the festival's most sacred days, when saffron-clad holy men were due to lead millions in ritual bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.
Festival officials responded by using loudhailers to urge pilgrims to stay away from the waterways.
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"We humbily request all devotees do not come to the main bathing spot," announced one festival staffer through a megaphone: "Please cooperate with security personnel."
The warnings prompted some attendees to leave the festival early, with pilgrim Sanjay Nishad saying: "I heard the news and saw the bathing site. My family got scared, so we're leaving."
Police officers were seen moving through the area carrying stretchers with blanket-covered victims.
The Kumbh Mela festival holds deep religious significance, rooted in Hindu mythology about a battle between deities and demons for a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality.
This year's festival, which runs until February 26, has been compared to a temporary country in terms of its scale.
Organisers had forecast up to 400 million pilgrims would visit during the six-week religious gathering.
The incident marks another deadly chapter in the festival's history of crowd-related accidents.
Mindful of past tragedies, authorities had implemented extensive security measures for this year's festival.
Hundreds of cameras were installed across the festival site and along roads leading to the sprawling encampment.
The surveillance network included both pole-mounted cameras and a fleet of overhead drones. All footage feeds into a sophisticated command and control centre.
The incident marks another deadly chapter in the festival's history of crowd-related accidents
Reuters
The centre was designed to alert staff when crowd concentrations reached potentially dangerous levels, however, despite these precautions, the festival has continued to face safety challenges.
Deadly crowd crushes have been a notorious feature of Indian religious festivals, with the Kumbh Mela's massive crowds presenting particular risks.
The festival's scale has made crowd management especially challenging, with millions of devotees gathering for sacred bathing rituals.
In 1954, more than 400 people died in a single day after being trampled or drowned at the festival, marking one of the largest death tolls in crowd-related disasters globally.
The most recent major tragedy occurred in 2013, when 36 people were crushed to death during the festival's previous staging in Prayagraj.
