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Many people were feared to have been killed early Wednesday after millions of Hindu pilgrims at the Maha Kumbh Mela<\/a>, a huge festival in the Indian city of Prayagraj, rushed to bathe in holy river waters on what is considered one of the most auspicious dates in the Hindu calendar.<\/p>\n As pilgrims rushed to the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, which Hindus consider sacred, hundreds of people who were sleeping on the river banks were trampled and a barrier broke, government officials said. Others were trying to escape after bathing, adding to the chaos.<\/p>\n Videos and photos from the scene showed people on the ground, their bodies and faces covered, and emergency personnel carrying people away on stretchers and into ambulances. Festival organizers had yet to release any casualty figures, but local news reports suggested that dozens had died.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj, one of the world\u2019s biggest religious gatherings, occurs every 12 years. Hindus believe that bathing at the spot where the two holy rivers meet, along with a third mythical river called Sarasvati, will purge them of all sins and help them attain salvation. Because of certain favorable celestial alignments, millions more were expected this year at the event, named the \u201cMaha\u201d or Great Kumbh.<\/p>\n Although there are a number of days considered auspicious for bathing during the event, the period starting late Jan. 28 and heading into the morning of Jan. 29 is seen as especially favorable. Government officials had said they expected around 100 million people to come to the rivers then.<\/p>\n The government of the state of Uttar Pradesh, where Prayagraj is, estimated that around 400 million people in total would attend the six-week festival from all corners of India. To house them all, the government built a temporary city on the banks of the Ganges, with tents, toilets, streets, pontoon bridges and waste management facilities. The government also built temporary bathing platforms using sandbags to make it easier for people to step into the water.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, urged pilgrims to perform their rituals at the nearest platform rather than pushing to get to the confluence. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The danger posed by huge crowds has been a frequent problem at the Kumbh Mela and other religious events. In 2013, 42 people were killed<\/a> and 45 injured in a crowd crush on a train platform. And in July, more than 100 people were killed and many injured during a prayer meeting<\/a> organized by a local guru that officials said owed to high temperatures and overcrowding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Government officials became much more organized and focused on the safety and security of pilgrims after the 2013 deaths. This year, the Uttar Pradesh government has employed more sophisticated technology to monitor the inflow and outflow of people so that police personnel on the ground can redirect crowds.<\/p>\n The pilgrims \u201ccome gradually and exit simultaneously,\u201d said Vijay Vishwas Pant, a senior government official, on Tuesday. Millions of pilgrims had begun trickling in during the day, but there was no set formula for how the crowds would exit, Mr. Pant said. The goal was to keep pilgrims moving safely, he added. \u201cIt is all dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Despite the precautions, festival employees and others were encouraging people to go toward the confluence of the rivers, with some even using the public address system to do so. Police officials were unable to clear the bathing areas before more pilgrims rushed in, officials said. As pilgrims tried to escape, they created stampede-like situations elsewhere, according to witness accounts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Kumbh Mela festival, which is rotated among four cities every three years, is known for the massive number of Hindu devotees who attend, including monks and ascetics from various orders of Hinduism and ordinary pilgrims.<\/p>\n This is a developing story that will be updated.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n