A stampede at India's Kumbh Mela festival, the world's largest religious gathering, has left several feared dead and many injured. Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees bathe in the sacred river confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati on Wednesday, a holy day during the six-week festival. Authorities were anticipating a record 100 million devotees to participate in ritual bathing on this auspicious day. The festival, held every 12 years, commenced on January 13th and is expected to draw more than 400 million pilgrims to the site this year. There have been other tragic incidents in India over the past two decades.

Hours after a massive rush of Hindu pilgrims set off a stampede at the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India early Wednesday, authorities were yet to release casualty figures even as the prime minister acknowledged the loss of lives and local media reports said 10 people had died. The stampede happened when pilgrims rushing to a sacred river confluence tried to jump barricades erected for a procession of holy men, Uttar Pradesh state’s top elected official, Yogi Adityanath, said in a televised statement. Adityanath said pilgrims were injured, some seriously, in the stampede.

AT least 15 people have been killed in a major crowd stampede at a festival in India. Dozens more were injured when a stampede erupted as thousands surged towards a river at the Kumbh Mela. Tens of millions were expected to gather on Wednesday to take a holy dip during the six-week Hindu festival. But between 1am and 2am, a stampede broke out where barricades had been put up to manage crowds. Shocking footage and images showed emergency crews taking bodies away on stretchers as attendees sat on the ground in tears. Others stepped over clothes, shoes, backpacks and blankets left by those trying to escape the crush.