15 killed in stampede at India's Maha Kumbh festival

A stampede at the world’s largest religious gathering in India killed at least 15 people with many more injured, a doctor at the Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj told AFP Wednesday.

“At least 15 people have died for now. Others are being treated,” said the doctor in Prayagraj city, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to media.

An AFP photographer saw rescuers and worshippers evacuating victims from the scene and people climbing over a barrier.

Deadly crowd crushes are a notorious feature of Indian religious festivals, and the Kumbh Mela, with its unfathomable throngs of devotees, already had a grim track record of deadly crowd crushes before the latest incident overnight.

Local government official Akanksha Rana told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency that the stampede began after crowd control barriers “broke.”

Officials said there had been only one stampede which occurred around 1 a.m. local time. Its cause was unclear.

However, witnesses said devotees trying to escape it were caught in another stampede at an exit. They then returned towards the pontoon bridges looking for another way out only to find it had been closed by authorities.

"I saw many people falling and getting walked on by the crowd...many children and women getting lost, crying for help," said Ravin, a devotee who gave only his first name and had traveled from the financial capital Mumbai for the festival.

A Rapid Action Force (RAF) - a special unit called in during crisis situations - had been deployed to bring the situation under control and rescue efforts were underway, officials said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and gave "directions for normalisation of the situation and relief", reported news agency ANI.

Adityanath also appealed to people to take a dip at the nearest river bank rather than trying to reach the confluence of three rivers that is believed to absolve devotees of their sins and confer salvation from the cycle of birth and death.

"All of you should follow the instructions of the administration and cooperate in making arrangements," he said on messaging platform X as the devout continued to take holy dips in other parts of the sprawling temporary city.

The world's largest congregation of humanity, the Hindu festival has already seen gigantic daily crowds, with nearly 148 million people attending since it began two weeks ago.

Attendees range from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah to Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and celebrities like Coldplay's Chris Martin and actress Dakota Johnson, who local media reported reached Prayagraj on Tuesday.

Modi was also expected to visit the festival next month.

Authorities had expected a record 100 million people to throng the temporary township in Prayagraj on Wednesday for the holy dip, considered the most auspicious day due to a rare alignment of celestial bodies after 144 years.

The 'royal bath' was briefly "put on hold" following the incident, but later resumed.

"Now that the crowd has reduced and the ghats (banks) meant for our snan (bath) are being vacated...Our processions will be carried out as usual according to our tradition but will be at a smaller scale," ascetic Ravindra Puri told ANI.

Authorities had undertaken several measures to cater to the enormous crowd, including increased security and medical personnel, and special trains and buses. AI-software was also used to manage the crowds.

A similar stampede had broken out on the most auspicious day of the festival when it was last held in 2013, killing at least 36 pilgrims, mostly women.