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.

More than seven people were killed in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian holy city of Prayagraj on Wednesday.

Officials had been preparing for months for the world’s largest religious festival, with around 400 million Hindu pilgrims expected to take part

At least 30 people have been killed in a crush at the world's largest religious gathering, the Hindu festival Kumbh Mela in northern India, officials say. The incident took place early on Wednesday when devotees on the riverbanks in the city of Prayagraj were trampled by other pilgrims rushing to take part in a sacred day of ritual bathing.

Nepal’s Ambassador to India, Shankar Sharma, on Saturday, took a holy dip in the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, during the ongoing Maha Kumbh. Sharma was part of a 118-member delegation from 77 countries that participated in the Maha Kumbh on Saturday.

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.

Indian officials downplayed a deadly stampede at the world’s largest religious festival because they wanted to protect the public image of

Ganges