A crowd crush has injured several people at the world’s largest religious festival in India, organizers reported Wednesday.
The crush at the Maha Kumbh Mela in the city of Prayagraj occurred after a barrier broke, according to Akanksha Rana, special executive officer for the festival.
“Several people are injured and receiving treatment,” she said, adding that some of the injured had been taken to the Intensive Care Unit.
Asked whether any people had died or how many had been impacted, she said officials were still assessing the extent of the damage.
Millions of Hindu devotees are bathing in sacred waters at the gathering in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Over six weeks, a staggering 400 million people are expected to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, on the riverbanks of Prayagraj.
Speaking to local media, devotees said the incident took place around 1:30 a.m. local time and described chaotic scenes with people running in different directions and others falling over.
One woman, who appeared to be in shock, spoke to journalists on camera outside the festival venue saying one of her relatives was taken to the hospital.
“People were being pushed around and got stuck. There was over a hundred people,” the devotee told reporters.
Video shared on social media showed ambulances rushing past crowds of people to the site of the crush and security personnel helping devotees as scattered blankets and belongings lay strewn on the ground.
Crowd crushes at religious gatherings in India are not uncommon, and deadly incidents have occurred in the past, often highlighting a lack of adequate crowd control and safety measures. In 2013, dozens of people were killed and injured in a crowd crush at a railway station in Allahabad as pilgrims gathered for that year’s Kumbh Mela.
Ahead of the festival in Prayagraj, officials said extra safety measures had been put in place to protect visitors, including a security ring with checkpoints around the city staffed by more than 1,000 police officers.
The central government said over 2,700 security cameras powered by artificial intelligence would also be positioned around the city, monitored by hundreds of experts at key locations.
Aerial drones were touted to provide surveillance from above and, for the first time, underwater drones capable of diving up to 100 meters were being activated to provide round-the-clock cover, the government added.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
