At least 40 people were killed, and hundreds more injured, in the early hours of Wednesday when a stampede broke out at Maha Kumbh, the world's largest religious festival that every 12 years attracts millions of people to Prayagraj, a city in northern India.

Pandemonium broke loose when pilgrims began pushing towards the confluence of the sacred Ganges, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers to take a holy bath that devotees believe washes away sins and frees them from the cycle of rebirth.

Eyewitnesses told DW that barricades were breached, and people kept tripping over one another as thousands trampled over others trying to escape to safety on the riverbank.

"It was around 1.45 a.m., and people were getting flattened in the melee, and I could see this crush of humanity surge forward. Many women and children were asleep when the tragedy happened," Saurabh Singh, a festival attendee, told DW.

"I was numb seeing such a crowd, and an hour later, I saw lifeless bodies lying on the ground."

Indra Shekhar, who has been camping at the festival for over a week, visited the scene soon after the stampede and saw hundreds of people being taken away in........

© Deutsche Welle