🙏 In a tragic turn of events, a massive stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in India claimed the lives of dozens of devotees on Wednesday. As millions gathered for a \"holy dip\" in the sacred river waters, the world's largest human gathering turned chaotic.
Officials reported that at least 30 people lost their lives in the crush, with 90 others injured. However, sources indicate that the death toll could be nearing 40.
Eyewitnesses described a scene of chaos as the crowd surged towards the rivers. Some devotees fell, triggering a domino effect, while others struggled to breathe as routes to the water were blocked, causing suffocating bottlenecks.
Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident. \"The government has decided that a judicial inquiry of the incident will be done. For this, we have formed a three-member judicial commission,\" he announced.
\"The judicial commission will look into the entire matter and submit its report to the state government within a time limit,\" he added.
Despite the tragedy, the sheer scale of the festival is staggering. On Wednesday alone, over 76 million people took a dip at the confluence of three sacred rivers in Prayagraj, according to officials. Since the festival began two weeks ago, nearly 280 million people have participated, including federal ministers, industrialists, and celebrities.
The Maha Kumbh Mela – held every 12 years – is expected to draw some 400 million devotees in 2025. To put that into perspective, last year's Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia saw 1.8 million attendees.
Devout Hindus believe that bathing at the meeting point of the Ganga, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers cleanses sins and brings salvation, freeing them from the cycle of birth and death.
Opposition leaders have criticized the government's handling of the festival, blaming mismanagement for the stampede. They've called for improved arrangements to prevent future tragedies. Local media echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the need for better crowd planning.
The Hindustan Times emphasized in an editorial, \"There is much scope for improving crowd management at the Kumbh. More personnel have to be deployed, and better planning is needed – using both ground resources and modern technology.\"
With three more \"royal dips\" scheduled in the coming weeks, where the bathing ritual is considered especially sacred, authorities are under pressure to ensure such a tragedy does not repeat. 🙏
While devotees take \"holy dips\" daily, the \"royal dips\" are special dates that draw even larger crowds. Wednesday was one such day, and anticipation builds for the remaining ones before the festival concludes.
Reference(s):
India orders probe into Hindu festival stampede that killed dozens
cgtn.com
