As the Maha Kumbh 2025 continues in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj, at least 30 people have died and 60 have been injured in a stampede incident ahead of the Mauni Amavasya bath on Wednesday (Jan 29).
Tens of millions of people flocked to the northern state of Uttar Pradesh to participate in one of the significant events of the gathering.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the incident happened between 1 am to 2 am on Wednesday.
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DIG Kumbh Mela Vaibhav Krishna said that some of the victims are from other states, including Karnataka, Assam and Gujarat.
Out of the 30 deceased, 25 have been identified, while the remaining five are yet to be identified.
UP CM condoles families of deceased
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath expressed his deepest condolences to all those families who lost their loved ones.
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"We have been in constant touch with the administration since last night. The Mela Authority, Police, Administration, NDRF, SDRF, and all other arrangements that could be made have been deployed there," he said.
Judicial inquiry ordered
CM Yogi said the government has decided that a judicial inquiry into the incident will be done.
"For this, we have formed a 3-member judicial commission headed by Justice Harsh Kumar, former DG VK Gupta and retired IAS DK Singh," he said.
"We have been monitoring the entire incident from the Chief Minister's control room, the Chief Secretary's control room, and the DGP's control room throughout the day," Yogi added.
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He continued that the meetings went on throughout the day and there was continuous communication with the administration regarding the incidents.
Ex-gratia amount announced
UP CM Yogi announced a compensation of INR 2.5 million each to the families of those who died in the Maha Kumbh stampede.
"We are also announcing financial assistance of INR 2.5 million each to the families of the deceased who have lost their lives in the accident on behalf of the state government," Yogi announced.
UP minister calls it a 'minor incident'
UP minister Sanjay Nishad sparked controversy after he allegedly called the stampede incident a "minor incident", given the massive scale of the event, and suggested that such incidents are inevitable in large gatherings.
"In such large gathering, such minor mishaps are inevitable (Jaha itne bade bade ayojan hote hain, toh choti moti kahin koi ghatnayein ho jaati hain)", said Nishad.
Helpline numbers
The Mela administration has issued a helpline number of 1920 for the devotees who are unable to find their loved ones after the stampede incident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the families of the victims and said that he has been in constant touch with the UP government to monitor the situation closely.
(With inputs from agencies)