At least 30 people died and 60 others were injured in a pre-dawn stampede at Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj yesterday.

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

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.

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. Tens of millions of people flocked to the northern state of Uttar Pradesh to immerse themselves in the water at the sacred confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers on one of the most auspicious days of the Hindu festival.