Moments before a deadly stampede at the world's biggest religious gathering in India, Hindu devotees queuing to take a spiritual bath in a river said they pleaded with police to open barricaded routes to thin out a surging crowd.

A senior police officer said at least 30 people died as a crowd panicked at the Hindu Kumbh Mela mega-festival in the northern city of Prayagraj.

Several devotees are feared dead and many injured following a stampede in the early hours of Wednesday at Akhara Marg, close to the Triveni Sangam ghat at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj.

More than 100 people were killed in a stampede in northern India in July 2024 following a Hindu religious gathering, making it one of the deadliest such accidents in years. Thousands had gathered at a makeshift tent for an event led by a Hindu preacher in Uttar Pradesh state.

Millions of Hindu devotees gathered on Thursday (January 30) for a holy dip in the sacred river waters of India's northern city of Prayagraj as part of the Kumbh Mela, a day after a stampede at the religious festival.

A day after a deadly pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, where 30 pilgrims lost their lives and 60 others were injured, the Uttar Pradesh government has

At least 30 people have been killed and dozens more injured in crowd crushes at the Maha Kumbh Mela in India, where millions have gathered to bathe at the confluence of sacred rivers.

This happened while you were sleeping. Here's what global agencies reported overnight from Wednesday to Thursday. The authorities in India have ordered an investigation into the panic at the Hindu festival of Maha Kumbh Mela,