Human Interest Real People Real People Tragedy At Least 30 Dead, 60 Injured After Religious Event Ends in Stampede: 'There Was No Chance for Escape' A record 100 million devotees were expected to engage in the ritual bath in India By Anna Lazarus Caplan Anna Lazarus Caplan Anna Lazarus Caplan is a writer-reporter for PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. Her work previously appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Dallas Morning News, Eater and other publications. People Editorial Guidelines Updated on January 29, 2025 02:34PM EST 79 Comments At least 30 people have died following a stampede at the world’s largest religious gathering in India, authorities said. The tragedy unfolded early on Tuesday, Jan. 28, as thousands of Hindu pilgrims rushed to bathe in holy water while at the Maha Kumbh Mela, a festival in the Indian city of Prayagrajm, according to the Associated Press and The New York Times. At least 60 others were injured and taken to nearby hospitals, police officer Vaibhav Krishna told the AP. The incident occurred when pilgrims jumped barricades erected for a procession of holy men, Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh state’s top elected official, said in a televised statement, according to the report. At Least 60 Killed in Stampede at Religious Event in India as Officials Launch Investigation Witnesses told Reuters that routes to the water were closed — which brought the crowd to a standstill — while others began “pushing, pulling and climbing” over them. “Suddenly there was pushing in the crowd, and we got trapped. A lot of us fell down and the crowd went uncontrolled,” a pilgrim named Sarojini said, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. the AP reported. “There was no chance for escape, there was pushing from all sides.” Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Injured devotees are transferred to a hospital after a stampede during the Kumbh Mela festival at Sangam on 'Mauni Amavasya' during the ongoing 'Maha Kumbh Mela' festival in Prayagraj, India, on January 29, 2025. Sanjay Kanojia/NurPhoto via Getty A record 100 million devotees were expected to engage in the ritual bath at the location, which is the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers, the AP noted. News of the casualties was not reported by the government for more than 12 hours after the incident, according to The New York Times. At Least 56 People, Including Children, Are Dead After Stampede at African Soccer Game Adityanath said that a judicial inquiry would be launched surrounding the incident, and that the state government would give victims’ families about $29,000 each, the paper reported. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on X. “The accident in Maha Kumbh is extremely sad,” he said in the translated post. "My deepest condolences to the devotees who have lost their loved ones in this."