Security steps up crowd control at India's Kumbh Mela after deadly stampede | ABS-CBN

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Security steps up crowd control at India's Kumbh Mela after deadly stampede

Security steps up crowd control at India's Kumbh Mela after deadly stampede

Reuters

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Security stepped up crowd control operations at the Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival in north India's Uttar Pradesh state on early Wednesday (January 29) morning, after an official said more than seven people were killed and 10 injured in a stampede at the Hindu festival.

Authorities standing behind a boundary line tried to manage a large crowd squeezing shoulder-to-shoulder as they arrived at pre-dawn for the holy dip to mark the most auspicious day of the Maha Kumbh Mela. Security personnel also formed a human line to let several ambulances drive past following the situation.

Officials said an initial stampede which occurred around 1 a.m. local time (1930 GMT) was "not serious", but its cause was unclear. However, witnesses said devotees trying to escape it were caught in another stampede at an exit. They then returned towards the pontoon bridges looking for another way out only to find it had been closed by authorities.

Authorities had expected a record 100 million people to throng the temporary township in Prayagraj on Wednesday for the holy dip, considered the most auspicious day due to a rare alignment of celestial bodies after 144 years.

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