More than seven killed in stampede at India's Maha Kumbh festival

The Star

More than seven people were killed and around 10 injured in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival in north India's Uttar Pradesh state on Wednesday (Jan 29), said an official, as tens of millions gathered to take a holy dip.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/6etzd7w2  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00More than seven people were killed and around ten injured in a stampede at the Mahakumbh

00:13Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, in North India's Uttar Pradesh state on Wednesday,

00:19as tens of millions gathered to take a holy dip.

00:23Officials said an initial stampede, which occurred around 1 a.m. local time, was,

00:27not serious, but its cause was unclear.

00:30However, witnesses said devotees trying to escape it were caught in another stampede

00:35at an exit.

00:45A Rapid Action Force unit had been deployed to bring the situation under control and rescue

00:51efforts were underway.

00:53The world's largest congregation of humanity, the Hindu festival has already seen gigantic

00:58daily crowds, with nearly 148 million people attending since it began two weeks ago.

01:04Authorities had expected a record 100 million people to throng the temporary township in

01:09Prayagraj on Wednesday for the holy dip, considered the most auspicious day due to a rare alignment

01:15of celestial bodies after 144 years.

01:23For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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