What we know so far
Details of what has happened are still trickling in. Here’s what we know so far about the deadly crushes that have taken place at the Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious festival:
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Reports of the death toll in Prayagraj, the city where the Hindu festival is taking place, have varied. The government has yet to give an official toll but local officials have said 38 are dead. One doctor told AFP 15 people had died.
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It appears that more than one crush took place, although details are unclear. The initial crush appears to have taken place at the bank of the sangam, the holy confluence of three rivers, when people trying to bathe began falling over people who were sitting or lying by the river. People trying to escape were then caught in another crush.
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Religious leaders have called on pilgrims to avoid heading to the sangam today and to take baths instead at other points along the river.
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The akharas, or sects of sadhus (holy people), have officially cancelled their bathing today which was due to start around 4am.
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Images from the site showed scenes of chaos, with people stumbling over heaps of belongings as they tried to leave and security forces struggling to manage large crowds. Images also showed bodies lying on the ground.
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People were still searching for loved ones lost in the crush hours later, gathering at the missing persons tent and the hospital where the dead and injured were taken.
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Authorities had expected a record 100 million people to take a holy dip on Wednesday, considered the most auspicious day due to a rare alignment of celestial bodies after 144 years.
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The Hindu festival has already seen gigantic daily crowds, with nearly 148 million people attending since it began two weeks ago.
Key events
Hannah Ellis-Petersen
According to Indian media, prime minister Narendra Modi has called the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath twice since this morning’s incident and called for “immediate measures”.
The Uttar Pradesh government has yet to give an official statement on the incident or confirm the number of dead and injured
More reporting from the scene, courtesy of AFP:
Wednesday marks one of the holiest days in the festival, when saffron-clad holy men were due to lead millions into a procession of sin-cleansing ritual bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.
But instead officials were strolling the festival site with loudhailers urging pilgrims to keep away from the waterways.
“We humbly request all devotees do not come to the main bathing spot,” said one festival staffer, his voice crackling through his megaphone.
“Please cooperate with security personnel.”
Numerous pilgrims decided to make an early exit from the festival.
“I heard the news and saw the bathing site,” attendee Sanjay Nishad told AFP.
“My family got scared, so we’re leaving.”
Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh, has urged people to take baths nearer to them, and not to try to head to the sangam, the confluence of rivers where the crushes took place this morning.
However he did not make any specific reference to the crushes, instead warning people not to “pay any attention to any rumours”. In a post on X he said:
Take a bath at the ghat [steps] of Mother Ganga near to where you are, do not try to go towards sangam.
All of you should follow the instructions of the administration and cooperate in making arrangements.
People are bathing peacefully at all the ghats of Sangam. Do not pay any attention to any rumours.
महाकुम्भ-2025, प्रयागराज आए प्रिय श्रद्धालुओं,
माँ गंगा के जिस घाट के आप समीप हैं, वहीं स्नान करें, संगम नोज की ओर जाने का प्रयास न करें।
आप सभी प्रशासन के निर्देशों का अनुपालन करें, व्यवस्था बनाने में सहयोग करें।
संगम के सभी घाटों पर शांतिपूर्वक स्नान हो रहा है। किसी भी अफवाह…
— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) January 29, 2025
Reuters reported that prime minister Narendra Modi had spoken to Adityanath and called for “immediate support measures” citing the news agency ANI.
What we know so far
Details of what has happened are still trickling in. Here’s what we know so far about the deadly crushes that have taken place at the Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious festival:
-
Reports of the death toll in Prayagraj, the city where the Hindu festival is taking place, have varied. The government has yet to give an official toll but local officials have said 38 are dead. One doctor told AFP 15 people had died.
-
It appears that more than one crush took place, although details are unclear. The initial crush appears to have taken place at the bank of the sangam, the holy confluence of three rivers, when people trying to bathe began falling over people who were sitting or lying by the river. People trying to escape were then caught in another crush.
-
Religious leaders have called on pilgrims to avoid heading to the sangam today and to take baths instead at other points along the river.
-
The akharas, or sects of sadhus (holy people), have officially cancelled their bathing today which was due to start around 4am.
-
Images from the site showed scenes of chaos, with people stumbling over heaps of belongings as they tried to leave and security forces struggling to manage large crowds. Images also showed bodies lying on the ground.
-
People were still searching for loved ones lost in the crush hours later, gathering at the missing persons tent and the hospital where the dead and injured were taken.
-
Authorities had expected a record 100 million people to take a holy dip on Wednesday, considered the most auspicious day due to a rare alignment of celestial bodies after 144 years.
-
The Hindu festival has already seen gigantic daily crowds, with nearly 148 million people attending since it began two weeks ago.
Hannah Ellis-Petersen
Relatives sat outside the hospital where the dead and injured were brought.
Narayan Singh Lodhi, 50, from Madhya Pradesh said that his sister-in-law, Hukam Bhai Lodhi, had died in the crush:
She has three children. When it happened we were very close to the river and there was a big push. People from opposite directions started going towards each other and collided and then started pushing each other, trying to find their way out.
I saw people falling to the ground and shouting, and people started treading on each other. I tried to rescue as many people as possible but I could only get hold of my wife and another woman. I dragged them out. I saw around 20 bodies who were clearly dead on the floor who had been crushed and others were lying there injured crying out for help.
No one came to rescue the injured and pick up the bodies for at least an hour.
A bit more on the background to the festival, courtesy of an earlier piece by our correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen:
In the buildup to the festival, which will continue till 26 February, fervent colourful processions marked the arrival of the 13 akharas, the ancient monastic sects of warrior sadhus who travel from across the country to participate in the spectacle.
There has historically been fierce competition and bloodshed between the akharas, whose members have fought violently on many occasions and died in their thousands over who gets to take part in the holy bathing ritual first.
The scale and grandeur of this year’s festivities is expected to exceed all previous iterations, in a nod to the Kumbh Mela’s religious but also political significance. This is seen to have become more overt under the current Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government, which rules in the centre of the country and in Uttar Pradesh.
Some more reporting from the scene courtesy of Reuters:
Video and photographs after the crush showed bodies being stretched away, people sitting on the ground crying, while others stepped over a carpet of discarded belongings left by people as they tried to escape the stampede.
A Reuters witness saw several dead bodies as he followed dozens of ambulances rushing towards the river bank where the incident occurred.
Officials said an initial crush which occurred around 1 am local time was “not serious”, but its cause was unclear.
However, devotees trying to escape it were caught in another crush at an exit. They then returned towards the pontoon bridges looking for another way out only to find it had been closed by authorities.
Scenes of desperation as people search for loved ones
Hannah Ellis-Petersen
There were scenes of desperation at the missing persons tent where relatives of those missing in the crowd crush had gathered.
Manoj Kumar Paswan, 45, from Uttar Pradesh said:
My 65 year old aunt Chanara Prajapat is missing. We were near the sangam (confluence of rivers) and wanted to take a bath. But before we could get in the water there was a commotion and people started falling on each other.
We were three people, me, my mother and my aunt. There was a sudden push that was so forceful that I could only hold one person but I lost the hand of my aunt. I somehow managed to grab my mother and we dragged ourselves out.
I went back to look for my aunt but I couldn’t see her anywhere. It was a very painful and scary experience, people around were crying and wailing. There were over a dozen people lying on the floor including children and people were just trampling over them. I am very scared for her.
Saroj Bhagri, 60, from Madhya Pradesh said:
I have lost my eight-year-old grandson son Chahat Bhagri. We arrived yesterday night and went for a bath in the river late in the night. We were sitting near the river afterwards having some food. Suddenly people started pushing and falling over us and trampling us.
I got up and I was holding his hands but then I was pushed and it got wrenched from me when there was a huge crush. When I got up I couldn’t see him and people were running and screaming. When I got up he was gone. There were people lying on the floor.
He is only a little boy, I hope nothing bad has happened to him.
Hindu religious leader Jagatguru Rambhadracharya has appealed to devotees to take their dips at the nearest ghat (steps) on the Ganga river and not to attempt to bathe at the sangam, the confluence of the rivers, the Times of India reports.
The sangam is where the crushes are reported to have taken place in the early hours of this morning. He said:
I appeal to all the devotees that because a large crowd has gathered in Prayagraj today, they should not insist on taking a holy dip only at the Sangam Ghat. As of now, they should not leave their camps and look for their security.
We reported earlier that the akharas, the sects of warrior holymen who come to take part in the bathing rituals, had also cancelled their planned dips this morning.
Some more pics from the scene:
What is the Kumbh Mela?
Hannah Ellis-Petersen
The Kumbh Mela pilgrimage takes place every 12 years and is widely seen as the “festival of festivals” in the Hindu religious calendar in India, attended by a vibrant mix of sadhus or holy men, ascetics, pilgrims and tourists.
This year’s celebration is particularly significant as the Maha or grand Kumbh Mela only takes places every 144 years, marking the 12th Kumbh Mela and a special celestial alignment of the sun, moon and Jupiter.
More than 400 million people, the biggest crowd in its history, were expected to attend this year’s festivities, to be held over 45 days in Prayagraj in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Prayagraj is considered particularly holy to Hindus because it is home to Triveni Sangam, the sacred confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers. Over the course of the gathering, there are several shahi san, holy bathing days when the devotees immerse themselves in the waters in the belief it will purify the soul.
