Families mourn loved ones who died in Kumbh Mela crush

This week, a large religious festival in northern India experienced a stampede, resulting in casualties. Families of the victims are grieving as they wait to receive the bodies of their loved ones and prepare to take them back to their hometowns. The incident occurred during the six-week Hindu festival, Kumbh Mela, and Wednesday was one of the most sacred days of the festival, with at least 30 people losing their lives in the stampede.

The incident took place at Sangam, near the city of Prayagraj, where the sacred Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers converge, and where devotees bathe. This festival, touted as the largest human gathering, attracts tens of millions of pilgrims from around the world. Reports indicate that the stampede happened when a large number of pilgrims surged towards Sangam, trampling devotees who were sleeping near the riverbanks.

Eyewitnesses have accused the police and festival organizers of poor crowd control measures, failing to provide sufficient space for pilgrims to reach their destinations. The Uttar Pradesh government has launched a judicial inquiry into the incident. Meanwhile, families of the victims are mourning the loss of their loved ones, with some expressing that they still have many unanswered questions, while others are still waiting for news of their relatives.

Kaikeyi Devi from Bihar, who attended the Kumbh Mela with her husband, said she cannot shake the image of her husband being trampled before her eyes. "He was dragged away in the chaos, and we started shouting... ‘Leave him! Let him go! We are here!’... But he never came back," Devi told Reuters while waiting outside a morgue in Prayagraj to receive her husband's body. Taposh Roy from Assam, who lost his brother in the stampede, recounted the delay in getting help from the authorities. "He was lying there for a long time because there was no ambulance to take him to the hospital. We pleaded with the police that we could carry him ourselves, but they made us wait. When he was taken away by the police, we were not allowed to go with him," Roy told The Indian Express.

Tarun Bose from West Bengal had a similar experience, losing a female relative in the stampede. "The authorities failed to rescue her, and the police only managed to find her body after one and a half hours. There were no police around when the incident happened," he told AFP. Deepak Hattarwat from Karnataka is grieving the death of his wife and daughter. He did not attend the festival and said he only learned of their deaths a day later from a travel companion in their group. "We were planning her (daughter's) wedding. What should I do, for whom should I live?" Hattarwat told The Indian Express. Meanwhile, some have stated that they are still searching for their relatives 48 hours after the incident.

Manoj Kumar Sahni from Bihar told Reuters that he has been desperately searching for his missing father. "I have been looking for him for three days. I also went to the hospitals, but I could not find him. We are still searching at the railway and bus stations, but we have not found him," he said. Since the incident, authorities have increased security measures during the festival and banned vehicles from entering the gathering site until February 4. The next auspicious bathing day is Monday, when the festival is expected to see a large influx of people. The Kumbh Mela is estimated to gather 400 million people over 45 days. The tragedy occurred on one of the most sacred days of the festival as Hindus made their way to the river to bathe.