Thirty people were killed in the stampede that happened just before dawn at the Maha Kumbh venue in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, the police chief that oversees security at the massive religious gathering told reporters Wednesday.
Twenty-five bodies have been identified, police officer Vaibhav Krishna told reporters, adding 60 were injured. Many have been hospitalised.
The announcement of casualties came hours after local reports and Prayagraj residents posted on social media about deaths at the stampede. The reports were, however, not consistent with the number of dead.
The pre-dawn stampede at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh broke out after many pilgrims jostled for space to take a holy dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, one of the most auspicious days.
Many people started breaking barricades before the stampede happened, the police officer said.
Judicial Commission
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a three-member judicial commission, comprising Justice Harsh Kumar, former DG VK Gupta and retired IAS officer VK Singh to look into the reasons behind the stampede. He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh each for the families of those who died.
“It is important to get to the bottom of the whole episode on how such a tragedy occurred,” a visibly emotional Yogi Adityanath said, adding the chief secretary and DGP would visit the Maha Kumbh on Thursday for an in-depth probe into the incident.
Mr Krishna said barricades have been placed in the mela and akhara areas for lane management but they gave way under the pressure of the jostling.
Sarojini, a Karnataka resident who came to take a dip in the Maha Kumbh, told news agency PTI, “We came in a batch of 60 people in two buses. There were nine people in our group. Suddenly there was pushing in the crowd, and we got trapped. Many fell down and the crowd became uncontrollable.”
A woman at a local hospital, whose child was injured, said there was nowhere to go when people started pushing in the massive crowd. “Some people who pushed us were laughing while we begged them for kindness towards the children,” she told PTI.
Mr Krishna, the Deputy Inspector in General (DIG) of Maha Kumbh, said the situation is under control.
President of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, Mahant Ravindra Puri, who was headed towards the Triveni Sangam for the amrit snan said thousands of saints and Naga sadhus were coming with him. “We are going for the amrit snan… We will vacate the ghats very quickly so that all the devotees who have come here are able to take a holy dip.”
Digambar Naga Baba Chidanand Puri of Panchayati Niranjani Akhara told news agency ANI after taking amrit snan that after the incident, people from the Niranjani Akhara are coming in small numbers to take the holy dip.