Witnesses describe surging crowds that crushed people on the banks of the Ganges as they arrived to take a dip at holy site

Dozens of people are feared to have died in multiple crowd crushes at India’s Kumbh Mela festival, local officials at the scene have said, as vast crowds of people went to bathe at one of the holiest sites of the Hindu gathering.

People were crushed at about 4am on Wednesday in three separate areas at the sacred confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers. It appears people surged forward, into groups of people who were sitting or lying on the ground on the banks of the rivers.

More than 400 million people, the biggest crowd in its history, were expected to attend this year’s festivities, to be held over 45 days in Prayagraj in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Local officials counting casualties into hospital tents said at least 38 were feared dead but other officials and doctors have given death tolls ranging from 15 to 50. The government has not yet given official figures on the scale of the crush.

One paramilitary officer at the scene said: “There were multiple stampedes. There were at least 200 injured and I’d say around 50 dead. I saw them with my own eyes.”

One doctor in Prayagraj told AFP they knew at least 15 people were so far known to have been killed, but other local officials have said the death toll was higher.

Shoes and clothes could be seen strewn all over the ground where the crowd crushes happened, amid scenes of desperation at nearby hospitals where the injured and dead were brought.

Narayan Singh Lodhi, 50, from Madhya Pradesh, said his sister in law Hukam Bhai Lodhi died in the crush. She has three children.

“We were very close to the river and there was a big push. People from opposite directions started going towards each other and collided and then started pushing each other, trying to find their way out.

“I saw people falling to the ground and shouting, and people started treading on each other. I tried to rescue as many people as possible but I could only get hold of my wife and another woman. I dragged them out. I saw around 20 bodies who were clearly dead on the floor who had been crushed and others were lying there injured crying out for help.”

In anticipation of Wednesday’s crowds, the government urged people on Tuesday night to get in the water, dip twice and then leave the site immediately, calling it a sin to do a third dip.

Manoj Kumar Paswan 45, From Uttar Pradesh, said her 65-year-old aunt Chanara Prajapat was missing. “We were near the sangam [river] and wanted to take a bath. But before we could get in the water there was a commotion and people started falling on each other. We were three people, me, my mother and my aunt. There was a sudden push that was so forceful that I could only hold one person but I lost the hand of my aunt. I somehow managed to grab my mother and we dragged ourselves out.

“I went back to look for my aunt but I couldn’t see her anywhere. It was a very painful and scary experience, people around were crying and wailing. There were over a dozen people lying on the floor including children and people were just trampling over them.”

Saroj Bhagri, 60, from Madhya Pradesh was looking for her eight-year-old grandson Chahat Bhagri.