At least 15 people have died in a tragic crowd crush at the world’s largest religious gathering, the Kumbh Mela, in India, according to a doctor at the festival. The incident occurred on Wednesday during the Hindu religious festival in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, when a barrier broke during a holy bath at the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.
Malti Pandey, a 42-year-old pilgrim, described the chaos, saying that a crowd suddenly started pushing, causing many people to be crushed. Rescue teams rushed to the scene, working to carry victims away from the accident site.
The Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, attracts millions of Hindus every 12 years for ritual bathing, with attendees believing it cleanses them of sin and helps them achieve salvation. The festival’s scale is comparable to that of a temporary country, with up to 400 million pilgrims expected by its conclusion on February 26.
Despite extensive safety measures, including surveillance cameras and a “Lost and Found” network, deadly crowd-related incidents have occurred in previous Kumbh Melas. In 1954, more than 400 people died in a crowd crush, and another 36 were killed in 2013.
