Mourning among pilgrims
Mass panic claims seven lives at festival in India
At least 30 people have died in a stampede during the Hindu festival Maha Kumbh Mela in India. At least ten more people were injured, an official said on Wednesday.
Kronen Zeitung als bevorzugte Google-Quelle hinzufügen The stampede occurred at around 1 a.m. local time. The cause was initially unclear. Eyewitnesses reported that worshippers trying to flee the first stampede were caught up in another one at an exit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for "immediate relief measures". Millions of devotees had gathered to take a holy dip on the most important day of the six-week festival in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj at the confluence of the three holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical, invisible Saraswati.
Holy bath canceled after drama
Drone footage showed a huge crowd pressing shoulder to shoulder on the banks of the river before the stampede. Videos and photos after the incident showed bodies being carried away on stretchers while people sat on the ground crying and others stepped over belongings left behind.
Authorities had expected a record 100 million people to gather in the makeshift tent city for the holy bath on Wednesday. This was canceled after the incident.
Back in 2013, a similar stampede occurred on the holiest day of the last Maha Kumbh Mela, in which at least 36 pilgrims died. Kumbh Mela is said to be the largest religious festival in the world - 400 million pilgrims were expected over the entire period.
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