People thronged to the main hospital in Allahabad to see if their relatives were among 36 dead and 30 people injured in Sunday evening's stampede at the city's train station. Tens of thousands of people were waiting to board a train when railway officials announced a last-minute change in the platform, triggering the chaos. )
( Updated : On a day the Maha Kumbh saw its highest turnout of 30 million on its most auspicious day, a railing of a pedestrian bridge at Allahabad junction station collapsed, killing at least 24 and leaving an equal number injured. Among the dead were 18 women and six men. Earlier in the day, a minor stampede at the Kumbh grounds had resulted in the death of two persons and left five critically injured.)
A record 30 million Hindus immersed themselves in the sacred waters of India's river Ganges on Sunday in a crammed but successful mass bathing on the most auspicious day of the world's largest festival.
Ash-smeared naked saints led the rituals at the Kumbh Mela in northern India before dawn, dashing into the holy water which is believed by Hindus to cleanse sins. Tens of millions followed them over the course of the day.
Top local official Devesh Chaturvedi, the divisional commissioner of the surrounding city of Allahabad, said a record number of pilgrims had plunged into the river without any major accidents or crowd problems.
"By afternoon over two crore (20 million) people had taken the holy dip and by evening the numbers crossed three crore (30 million)," he told a press conference.
Police had been stretched in controlling the vast crowds, he admitted, and one person had died for unknown reasons and another had been injured in a minor stampede.
Amid the crush, thousands of volunteers on duty and police urged pilgrims to take one short bath and then leave the waters to make space for the flow of humanity behind them which stretched for kilometres (miles).
The Kumbh Mela, which began last month and ends in March, takes place every 12 years in the northern city of Allahabad. Smaller, similar events are held every three years in other locations around India.
This year's Mela is big even by previous standards, with astrologers saying a planetary alignment seen once every 147 years made it particularly auspicious for some pilgrims.
"This is a rare combination of planets which would bring in good times for some zodiac signs and adverse effect for others," said Amarpal Sharma, a local astrologer.
Mahenthanapati Bharadwajgiri, a "sadhu" or holyman, stressed that "no one here today will live to see it again that's why so many people are gathered."
The bathing takes place at an area called Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganges and Yamuna and a third mythical waterway called the Saraswati.
Devotees believe entering the water cleanses them of sin and frees them from the cycle of rebirth.
"This is the time when the chances of spiritual salvation are at a peak,"
holyman Parushram Shastri explained to AFP on Sunday, a day known as "Mauni Amavasya".
At least ten people were killed and many injured in a stampede that broke out at the Allahabad Railway station today evening. There were lakhs of people at the railway station, who were on their way back from Allahabad after attending the Maha Kumbh Mela; today being an auspicious day.
According to eyewitnesses, the stampede happened when people moving between platform number 5 and 6 were lathi-charged by the police. The police have denied the charge. Personnel from the district police, Uttarakhand Police and Railway Police are manning the station.
The relatives of the victims have complained that the authorities acted at least two hours after the incident. They say there was only one doctor at the station attending to several people who were injured in the stampede.
Over three crore people were at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad today to take holy dip at Sangam on 'Mauni Amavasya', considered the most auspicious day of bathing during the 12-yearly Kumbh congregation.
Two people were killed at a stampede at the mela earlier today.
Source : NDTV, TheNews, Guardian
Comments
Post a Comment