Indian authorities have ordered a probe into the stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela Hindu festival that killed dozens of devotees on Wednesday as millions gathered for a “holy dip” in sacred river waters as part of the six-week event, said officials.
Police said 30 people were killed in the crush at the world’s biggest gathering of humanity and 90 were injured, but sources told Reuters the death toll was nearly 40.
Some witnesses spoke of a huge push towards the rivers that caused devotees to fall on each other, while others said the closure of routes to the water brought the dense crowd to a standstill and caused people to collapse due to suffocation.
“The government has decided that a judicial inquiry of the incident will be done. For this, we have formed a three-member judicial commission,” Uttar Pradesh state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told reporters late on Wednesday.
“The judicial commission will look into the entire matter and submit its report to the state government within a time limit,” he said.
More than 76 million people took a dip at the confluence of three sacred rivers in Prayagraj in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh until 8pm (1430GMT) on Wednesday alone, officials said.
Nearly 280 million people have attended the festival since it began two weeks ago, including federal ministers, industrialists, and celebrities.
The Hindu festival – held every 12 years – is expected to draw some 400 million devotees in 2025, officials estimate. The Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, in comparison, drew 1.8 million people last year.
