At least 30 die in stampede at India’s Kumbh Mela festival
Footage showed bodies being stretchered away and people sitting crying, while others stepped over a carpet of discarded belongings
Dozens of people were killed in a predawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India on Wednesday, police sources and a Reuters witness said, as tens of millions gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters on the most auspicious day of a six-week Hindu festival.
State authorities said at least 30 people were killed and 60 were injured in the predawn stampede. Three police sources and a Reuters witness put the toll at nearly 40.
Reuters counted 39 bodies inside the morgue of the local hospital. One of the three police sources and a fourth officer said all 39 were stampede victims. All three police sources said nearly 40 bodies had been brought to the morgue.
Bodies were still being brought to the local Moti Lal Nehru Medical College hospital morgue more than 12 hours after the tragedy, although authorities were yet to officially announce the casualty numbers.
Senior police officer Vaibhav Krishna told reporters that 90 people were taken to the hospital after the stampede, of whom 30 died and the rest were being treated.
Distraught relatives queued up to identify those killed by the stampede, which occurred when crowds surged towards the confluence of three rivers, where immersion is considered particularly sacred.