Devotees say police didn’t respond to their pleas, and soon people squeezed in the massive crowd began fainting, creating panic at the Maha Kumbh Mela Hindu festival
Women sit next to belongings of stampede victims as devotees leave after attending the 'Maha Kumbh Mela', or the Great Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj, India, on Jan. 30.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.
“Then suddenly my mother fainted, and some other elderly people also fainted, which created a commotion. We fell down and many people stepped over us,” said Devi, wailing next to the bodies of her mother and sister-in-law at a city mortuary.in the stampede that broke just after midnight on Wednesday, according to official data, but authorities speaking on condition of anonymity at the mortuary said the death toll was nearly double at more than 50.
The first alert on police systems of a crowd surge came an hour before midnight on Tuesday and a second alert 45 minutes after midnight, by which time police had sent additional forces to the area, Krishna said.Police said the path leading to the main bathing area is only 50 metres wide and barricaded on either side to avoid people spilling over to other paths used by Hindu ascetics and for quick movement of police vehicles and ambulances.
At present, the confluence area is manned by 220 police in addition to volunteers who manage crowds and try to maintain a standard 15 minutes of bathing time. Krishna said police were also injured in the incident while doing all they could to control the crowd. Another officer said the crowd management strategy was developed after months of deliberation with experts, but added it might need reconsideration.
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