PRAYAGRAJ: Nearly 40 people were killed in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday and several others injured in a pre-dawn stampede as millions gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters on the most auspicious day of a six-week Hindu festival of Kumbh Mela.

While state authorities claimed 30 deaths, three police sources and a Reuters witness put the toll at nearly 40. Bodies were still being brought to the Moti Lal Nehru Medical College hospital morgue more than 12 hours after the tragedy at the world’s biggest gathering of humanity. “More bodies are coming in. We have nearly 40 bodies here,” one of the sources said.

Senior police officer Vaibhav Krishna told reporters that 90 people were taken to the hospital after the stampede, of whom 30 died and the rest were being treated.

“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.

Saroja, who had travelled for the festival from Belagavi, blamed lack of proper arrangements by police for the deaths.

However, the state government praised the police for preventing a potential tragedy.

PM Modi offered condolences to “devotees who have lost their loved ones”, without specifying the number of dead.

Opposition parties blamed the stampede on what they called the government’s “mismanagement” and “VIP culture”.

“VIP culture should be curbed and the government should make better arrangements to meet the needs of common devotees,” Rahul Gandhi, leader of main opposition Congress party, said on X, referring to politicians and celebrities being treated differently.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2025