At least 17 people have died and many more were injured in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India, a doctor at a government hospital said.
The doctor works in Prayagraj city, where more than 30 people were brought for treatment – with five in a serious condition – after a stampede as tens of thousands of pilgrims rushed to dip in sacred river waters during the Hindu event.
The incident took place when pilgrims tried to jump barricades erected for a procession of holy men, Uttar Pradesh state’s top elected official, Yogi Adityanath, said in a televised statement.
Mr Adityanath said several pilgrims were injured, some seriously, in the stampede.
Prime Minister Mr Modi called the incident “extremely sad” and extended his condolences to victims.
Most local news websites said at least 10 people were killed, with Hindi language newspaper Dainik Bhaskar putting the death toll at 20.
Wednesday was a sacred day during a six-week festival, and authorities in Prayagraj city were expecting a record 100 million devotees to engage in a ritual bath at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.
The main draw is the thousands of ash-smeared Hindu ascetics who make massive processions towards the confluence to bathe.
Millions of people continued to throng the 4,000-hectare (15 square mile) pilgrimage site despite the stampede, even as police urged them over megaphones to avoid the confluence. Mr Adityanath urged people to instead take baths at other riverbanks.
“About 30 million people had taken the holy bath by 8am on Wednesday,” he said.
Distressed families lined up outside a makeshift hospital, desperate for the news of their missing loved ones. Clothes, blankets and backpacks were strewn around the scene of the stampede.
The Maha Kumbh festival, held every 12 years, started on January 13 and is the world’s largest religious gathering. Authorities expect more than 400 million people to throng the pilgrimage site in total.
A sprawling tent city has been built on the riverbanks to accommodate millions of visitors. It has roads, electricity and water, 3,000 kitchens and 11 hospitals.
About 50,000 security personnel are stationed in the city to maintain law and order and manage crowds, and more than 2,500 cameras monitor crowd movement and density so officials can try to prevent such crushes.
The 45-day festival is a significant cultural event for India’s Hindus, who make up nearly 80% of the country’s more than 1.4 billion people.
The Maha Kumbh festival has been marred by stampedes in the past. In 2013, at least 40 pilgrims who were taking part in the same festival were killed in a stampede at a train station in Prayagraj.
Deadly stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas.
In July at least 116 people died, most of them women and children, when thousands at a religious gathering in northern India stampeded at a tent camp in Hathras town.
