At least seven people were killed, and around ten others were injured in a devastating stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, early Wednesday morning. The tragic incident occurred near the arena of the ascetics, where thousands of devotees had gathered for the holy dip at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers. Authorities had erected barricades to control the massive crowd, but an unexpected surge led to chaos, with people falling over each other. A woman who survived the crush recounted in tears how her mother lost her life in the stampede. Videos and photographs from the site showed distressing scenes of bodies being carried away on stretchers while belongings of the devotees—clothes, shoes, and blankets—lay scattered across the ground.
The Maha Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious gathering, had already drawn nearly 200 million people within two weeks, with Wednesday being the most auspicious day of the festival. More than 36 million pilgrims had taken a holy dip by 10 a.m., and authorities had anticipated a record 100 million attendees throughout the day. The situation prompted a massive emergency response, with ambulances rushing towards the riverbank and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) being deployed to restore order. Despite Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s assurance that the situation was under control, officials urged devotees to avoid the area. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on social media, stating that local authorities were actively engaged in rescue operations.
Opposition parties were quick to blame the tragedy on government mismanagement and the prioritization of VIP guests over the safety of common pilgrims. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticized the administration, emphasizing that “VIP culture should be curbed, and better crowd management should be implemented.” This is not the first time such an incident has occurred at the Kumbh Mela—back in 2013, a similar stampede on an auspicious bathing day had claimed at least 36 lives. Despite advanced AI-based crowd control measures in place for this year’s event, the sheer number of attendees appears to have overwhelmed security arrangements, raising questions about whether authorities were truly prepared for the scale of the gathering.
