Several people were feared dead after a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival in north India’s Uttar Pradesh State on Wednesday, as tens of millions gathered to take a holy dip on the six-week long event’s most significant day.
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Drone footage showed millions of devotees, shoulder to shoulder, arriving in the predawn dark for the holy dip to mark the most auspicious day of the Maha Kumbh Mela.
Video and photographs after the stampede showed bodies being stretched away, people sitting on the ground crying, while others stepped over a carpet of discarded belongings left by people as they tried to escape the stampede.
An eyewitness saw several dead bodies as he followed dozens of ambulances rushing towards the river bank where the incident occurred.
Officials said an initial stampede which occurred around 1am local time was “not serious”, but its cause was unclear. However, devotees trying to escape it were caught in another stampede at an exit.
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