A stampede at a religious gathering in northern India killed at least 24 people on Saturday as thousands of devotees of a controversial guru tried to cross a bridge at once, said Indian Police officials.

The followers of Jai Gurudev, a leader of a local religious sect, had gathered on the outskirts of Varanasi, a Hindu holy town in Uttar Pradesh state, when the deadly stampede broke out.

“We can confirm that 24 people have died in the incident. Nineteen of the dead are women,” said police inspector general Hari Ram Sharma.

At least 20 others were injured in the crush and were undergoing treatment at nearby hospitals. Devotees from nearby districts had gathered for the two-day religious congregation on the banks of river Ganges.

State police chief Javeed Ahmed blamed overcrowding on the old iron bridge for the disaster.

“They had sought permission for 5,000 persons but many more people reached and joined the procession,” Ahmed told India's NDTV news network.

“They were crossing a bridge when some rumour-mongering happened which led to the disaster.” A spokesman of the religious sect Raj Bahadur told the Press Trust of India (PTI).

“The devotees were proceeding towards the camp (across the river) but police started sending them back. This led to rumours that the bridge has collapsed,” he added.

TV footage showed piles of colourful clothing and slippers lying in a heap with policemen trying to clear the debris.

Stampedes at India's religious festivals, where police and volunteer stewards are often overwhelmed by the sheer size of the crowds, are not uncommon.

In July last year, a stampede on the banks of a holy river killed 27 pilgrims in southern India.

Around 115 people were killed in October 2013 at a stampede near a temple in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, site of another deadly stampede there seven years earlier.