Thousands of people gathered for a sacred plunge in the Ganga on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, resulting in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela Uttar Pradesh Prayagraj on Wednesday, which is thought to have killed several people.
On one of the most sacred days of the celebration, Mauni Amavasya, thousands of people flocked to the location. Injured people were transported to the central hospital within the Mela grounds for treatment as numerous ambulances raced to the ghat. On condition of anonymity, people with knowledge of the developments told HT that at least 15 bodies had been taken to the hospital.
As millions of pilgrims gathered for a sacred bath on Mauni Amavasya, a stampede-like situation broke out at Sangam in the early hours of Wednesday during the ongoing Maha Kumbh, raising fears of several casualties.
The Mauni Amavasya “Amrit Snan” caused crowd pressure to rise, prompting the Mela management to order people to return. The public address system was also playing announcements requesting that after taking their holy wash, devotees leave the ghats for others.
On this auspicious day, a number of people returned without bathing in the midst of the stampede mayhem.
While many devotees continued to dip at Sangam and other ghats in the Mela area, the Akharas canceled their customary ‘Amrit Snan’ for Mauni Amavasya in light of the occurrence.
In a call with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assessed the situation at the Maha Kumbh and demanded prompt assistance.
According to government sources, Modi has already spoken with Adityanath twice and is keeping a close eye on the issue.
Although the Uttar Pradesh government had already strengthened the region’s security and crowd-control measures, it still anticipated that the Mahakumbh on Mauni Amavasya would attract almost 10 crore people.
All pilgrims were advised by the authorities to treat the ghats equally to the Sangam and to refrain from spreading any kind of false information.
