The jostling before the dawn of the massive hinde festival in northern India has wreaked havoc. But the order was quickly restored in the coming hours.
Wednesday morning, the ambulances crossed a swarm of millions of people who had gathered in the city of Prayagraj. They transported dozens of people to hospitals, some who had been trampled on to death.
Local officials moved to resume the rites at the Maha Kumbh Mela, counting on thousands of video cameras “fed by AI”. Soon, the faithful did what they came from: bathed in the confluence of three rivers considered sacred, one of them mythical. A helicopter showed rose petals on the lights leading the holy dip.
The authorities had studied the buffers during the previous iterations of the festival. But also prepared and equipped that they seemed to be, they did not even free an initial number of deaths for almost 15 hours after the tragedy.
What they continued to publish was good news: regular updates on the number of people had finished the bathing ritual.
