A pre-dawn stampede on the holiest day of the Maha Kumbh on Wednesday killed at least 30 people and injured another 60 in Prayagraj town after surging crowds burst out of police barricades to rush towards a narrow strip of the riverbank, trampling bystanders.
Authorities said the tragedy occurred between 1am and 2am on Wednesday as millions of devotees jostled to find a toehold before taking a dip at the holy Sangam nose, smashing through cordons and putting the spotlight on alleged administrative lacunae in preparing for the Mauni Amavasya, considered by many as the most auspicious moment of the six-week festival.
“The crowds broke barricades and jumped to the other side, crushing those waiting there. Over 90 injured were rushed to the hospital, out of whom 30 died,” said deputy inspector general of Maha Kumbh Nagar, Vaibhav Krishna in the evening. The officer said 25 of the deceased had been identified. Among those injured, 36 were undergoing treatment at a hospital and the rest were discharged.
People aware of the matter said on the condition of anonymity that the toll could rise further, and some eyewitnesses at hospitals suggested it could go beyond 50. In 2013, 36 people had died when a stampede had broken out at the railway station during the Maha Kumbh, again on Mauni Amavasya.
Confusion reigned over the number of casualties through the day as authorities remained tight-lipped about pilgrim deaths, holding a presser only late in the evening. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s first statement only mentioned that some people were seriously injured, without mentioning any casualties even as statements by President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah clearly specified that people had died.
Modi condoled the deaths. “The accident that happened in Prayagraj Maha Kumbh is extremely sad. My deepest condolences to the devotees who have lost their loved ones in this. Along with this, I wish for the speedy recovery of all the injured. The local administration is engaged in helping the victims in every possible way. In this regard, I have spoken to chief minister Yogi ji and I am constantly in touch with the state government,” he posted on X.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a judicial inquiry, and a separate probe to look into police lapses. He also announced an ex gratia of ₹25 lakh each for the kin of the deceased.
“It is important to get to the bottom of the whole episode on how such a tragedy occurred,” Adityanath said, adding that the chief secretary and director general of police will visit the Maha Kumbh on Thursday for an in-depth probe. In one video, he was seen breaking down while speaking about the victims.
The Opposition called for an inquiry and blamed the state government. “In order to re-instil faith in the system among the saint community and devotees…it is necessary that the administration and management of the Maha Kumbh should be immediately handed over to the Army instead of the UP government and administration,” Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav posted on x.
Around 80million people were expected to congregate at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers on the auspicious occasion of Mauni Amavasya, or new moon, when a rare cosmic alignment is believed to wash away the sins off any devotee taking a dip. Crowds had swelled around the time evening fell on Tuesday and by midnight, the Sangam nose was choc-a-bloc with pilgrims, with no space left for people to turn back after taking the dip.
A little after 1am, the dam broke. Witnesses spoke of a huge swell that caused devotees to fall on each other, while others said the closure of routes to the water brought the dense crowd to a standstill and caused people to collapse due to suffocation.
“There was commotion, everybody started pushing, pulling, climbing over one another. My mother collapsed…then my sister-in-law. People ran over them,” said Jagwanti Devi, 40, as she sat in an ambulance with the bodies of her relatives.
Jai Prakash Soni managed to rescue his elderly father, wife, and two children, but could not save his mother Sheela, who was trampled in the crush. “My mother fell as someone pushed from behind. I managed to pull my family to safety, but by the time I could search for my mother, she had already been crushed by the crowd. Six of us came here. Now we are five,” he said, biting back tears.
Saroja, who had travelled for the festival from Belagavi in Karnataka and gave only her first name, blamed the police for the deaths of four members of her family. “Police didn’t make proper arrangements. They are responsible for this,” she said. “We came in a batch of 60 people in two buses, there were nine people in the group. Suddenly there was pushing in the crowd, and we got trapped. A lot of us fell down and the crowd went uncontrolled.”
“There was no chance for escape, there was pushing from all sides,” the woman said.
By 2 am, the wail of sirens from ambulances and police vehicles pierced through the continuous chants of mantras and shlokas echoing from loudspeakers across the mela area.
Security personnel and rescue workers were seen carrying many of the injured on stretchers. People’s belongings, including blankets and bags, lay strewn around.
Adityanath said the stampede took place at the Akhara Marg on the Sangam bank and that.36 of those injured were still being treated in Prayagraj while close relatives of others were them to their native places. “We are in touch with the Mela administration, NDRF, SDRF and others and all the possible relief was provided…the snan by the akharas, which was deferred following the stampede, was resumed later,” he added.
The Opposition hit out at the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government over the stampede, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying that mismanagement and administration’s special focus on VIP movement were responsible for the tragic incident.
“The government should improve the system to prevent a tragic incident like today from happening again. VIP culture should be curbed and the government should make better arrangements to meet the needs of common devotees,” Gandhi said on X.
In the evening, Adityanath said all VIP arrangements were going to be suspended.
Yadav attacked the BJP administration. “Now that the truth behind the claims of ‘world-class system’ has been exposed, those who were making these claims and spreading false propaganda should take moral responsibility for the people killed in this accident and resign from their posts,” he posted on X.
