GUWAHATI: Another devastating stampede reportedly took place at the Maha Kumbh event in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj on Wednesday after the first which led to the loss of at least 7 more lives at the Sangam. This second incident occurred hours later at Jhusi, about 3 km away from the Sangam nose taking the overall toll to 37.
According to media reports, Kalpvasi police station Circle Officer Rudra Kumar Singh confirmed the second tragedy, stating, "Seven people were found dead at the spot in Jhusi due to excessive crowd pressure." Despite the gravity of the situation, the Yogi Adityanath government remained silent on the second stampede.
Officials only addressed the first incident several hours later during a media briefing. The first official update on the Sangam stampede came at 7 PM on Wednesday, when Mahakumbh Nagar District Magistrate Vijay Kiran Anand and Mela DIG Vaibhav Krishna confirmed that 30 people had died between 1 AM and 2 AM.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and President Droupadi Murmu expressed their condolences before the Uttar Pradesh government formally acknowledged the loss of lives.
In response to the tragedy, the UP government took immediate safety measures, including the cancellation of VVIP passes and restricted entry for vehicles at the event.
The opposition, however, has strongly criticised the administration for poor crowd management, blaming officials for the mishandling of the event. The Maha Kumbh stampede is also expected to be a key topic of discussion in the Parliament session, which begins today.
