JAKARTA - Dozens of people died as they jostled before dawn in Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India on Wednesday, police sources and Reuters witnesses said tens of millions of people had gathered to swim in the holy river on the holiest day of the Hindu festival which lasted six weeks.

The state government said at least 30 people were killed and 60 injured in the crowd just before dawn. Three police sources and Reuters eyewitnesses said the death toll was nearly 40, as quoted January 30.

Reuters counted 39 bodies in the morgue of a local hospital. One of the three police sources and a fourth officer said the 39 bodies were crammed into the morgue. All three police sources said nearly 40 bodies had been taken to the morgue.

The body is still being taken to the morgue of Moti Lal Nehru Medical College more than 12 hours after the tragedy at the world's largest ritual.

"More bodies are arriving. We have nearly 40 bodies here. We also move them out and hand them over to families one by one," said one source.

Meanwhile, senior police officer Vaibhav Krishna told reporters 90 people were taken to hospital after the raid, 30 of whom died and the rest were treated.

Desperate relatives queue to identify those who died, which occurred as crowds flocked to the meeting of three rivers, where crowded people were considered very sacred.

Several eyewitnesses spoke of great pressure that caused people to fall, while others said closing the route to the water stopped the crowd and caused people to faint due to shortness of breath.

"There was a commotion, everyone started pushing, pulling, climbing each other. My mother fainted, then my brother-in-law. People hit them," said Jagwanti Devi (40) as she was sitting in the ambulance with the bodies of her relatives.

Meanwhile, Saroja, who has traveled to attend a festival from the southern city of Belagavi and has only given his first name, blamed the police for the deaths of four members of his family.

"The police did not make the right arrangements. They are responsible for this," he complained.

The state government praised the police and said it "a quick and effective response to preventing potential tragedy".

"The police acted quickly to restore order and ensure the safety of pilgrims, significantly minimizing the impact of the situation," he said in the first official statement from authorities on the raid.

At SRN Prayagraj Hospital, where several injured victims were taken, an official said those who died had heart attacks or had comorbidities such as diabetes.

"People come with broken bones, broken bones. Some fainted on the spot and were taken dead," said the official, who did not wish to be named.

Separately, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to "the youths who have lost their loved ones", without mentioning the death toll.

Meanwhile, Uttar State Chief Minister Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, where the city of the Prayagraj festival is located, said the incident occurred when several people tried to jump over the barricades installed to organize the crowd.

At the scene after the incident, several people sat on the ground crying, while others stepped over the items left by those trying to escape from the crowd.

According to officials, the Hindu festival is expected to attract around 400 million people as a whole.

On Tuesday, nearly 200 million people had attended the festival since it started two weeks ago, officials said, adding that more than 57 million people had performed worship until 4pm (1030 GMT) on Wednesday alone.

It is known that devout Hindus, bathing in the gathering of three holy rivers - Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati - can free people from sin and during Kumbh, also bring safety from the cycle of life and death.

This year, those present include Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Interior Minister Amit Shah, to Adani Group Chair Gautam Adani and celebrities such as Chris Martin of Coldplay, which local media reported had arrived in Prayagraj on Tuesday.

Authorities expect a record 100 million people to crowd the interim city of Prayagraj on Wednesday, and have deployed additional security and medical personnel along with AI software-based technology to manage crowds.

It is known that a similar incident occurred in 2013, where at least 36 people died in the same event.


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