Dozens Killed, Injured at World's Largest Religious Festival in India

TaiwanPlus News

At least 30 people are dead and dozens more are injured after a crowd crush at the world's largest religious gathering, Maha Kumbh Mela, in northern India.

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00:00Ranjani Kumari waits outside the morgue in Prayagraj, northern India, waiting to pick

00:07up the body of her 21-year-old daughter, Sanam.

00:14Sanam was one of at least 30 people killed at the world's largest religious gathering,

00:20the Mahakamela festival, when a surge in the crowds became deadly.

00:24The Mahakamela festival is held every 12 years and is one of the holiest events for

00:49followers of Hinduism.

00:52This year's festival is expected to draw a staggering 400 million people, the largest

00:58gathering of humans on the planet.

01:01Authorities estimate 90 to 100 million people were at the site on the festival's most auspicious

01:07day, to bathe at the junction of three sacred rivers, the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati.

01:21When crowds broke through barricades, trampling those resting on the riverbanks.

01:48Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the stampede extremely sad and said the ritual

01:54bathing was halted.

02:15Officials have ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident, amid allegations of mismanagement

02:21and poor handling by the police.

02:25And as dozens are treated for injuries, families wait to hear the news of those still missing

02:34and worshippers are now able to return to bathe in the sacred waters.

02:38Dolphine Chen and Haral Hughes for Taiwan Plus.

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