Could Maha Kumbh Mela Stampede have been awake? – DW – 01/29/2025

At least 40 people were killed and hundreds of others injured, in the early hours of Wednesday, when a jostling broke out in Maha Kumbh Mela, the largest religious festival in the world which attracts millions of people in Prayagraj, a city from northern India.

The pandemonium detached itself when the pilgrims began to push towards the confluence of the sacred rivers of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati to take a holy bath which believes the sins washes and releases them from the rebirth cycle.

Eye witnesses told DW that the barricades had been raped, and people stumbled on each other while thousands of people were walking on others trying to escape safely on the shore.

“It was about 1.45 morning, and people were flattened in the fray, and I could see this crush forward.

“I was numb when I saw such a crowd, and an hour later, I saw lifeless bodies lying on the ground.”

Indra Shekhar, who has been camped at the festival for more than a week, visited the scene shortly after the jostling and saw hundreds of people kidnapped in civilians while waiting ambulances were rushed to the seriously injured in hospitals.

“This tragedy could have been easily avoided if there was better control of crowds and the presence of adequate police officers. But the administration blocked more than 28 peloton bridges leading to the river, which were reserved for VIPs, which Dressed in chaos, “said Shekar to DW.

Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where the event happened, said that the Stampede had broken out when the pilgrims tried to jump over the police barricades To reach the confluence of Sangam.

History of crowd problems in religious festivals

The “Kumbh Mela” festival takes place every 12 years, corresponding to a complete orbital cycle of Jupiter. Different iterations of the festival occur in different places and dates. However, this year’s festival marks an event once in 144, called “Maha” (large) Kumbh Mela, making it more significant.

The dangers posed by huge crowds were a problem at previous festivals.

In Kumbh 2013, at least 40 people were killed in a jostling in a Prayagraj station.

In July 2024, more than 120 people died during another religious rally led by a so-called Godman in the northern city of Hathras in India. More than 250,000 would have attended the event.

The crowd would have started to trigger when the detail of the security of the Godman pushed the disciples who had kneel to recover the mud on which the religious chief had walked.

Timbales in religious festivals occur due to large moving crowds combined with limited crowd control measures.

“In almost all religious stamps, overcrowding, mismanagement of crowds and rumors and panic have led to horrible tragedies,” said a senior black Tiger Security Services.

What measures were in place?

The deadly stampede to Maha Kumbh Mela raised new concerns concerning the control of crowds during religious rallies.

Knowing that there would be around 400 to 450 million participants during the six -week festival, the authorities deployed more than 2,700 video surveillance cameras, with more than 300 equipped with AI capabilities, to monitor the crowds of the crowds and real -time movement models.

Drones have been deployed to supervise the massive gathering of the faithful to give managers an idea of ​​the moment when the density thresholds of people are exceeded at various times on the festival field.

In addition, more than 40,000 police officers are on site to maintain order and manage crowds. They are supported by a control center that oversees operations using real -time data of surveillance systems.

What could have been done differently?

However, even with these measures, the control of the crowds has always collapsed.

“This technology, even the AI, has not allowed the authorities to effectively manage crowds and prevent overcrowding since India has seen many stamps in religious rallies,” said Dw Yashavardhan Azad , a former police officer.

“Obviously, it did not help, and there should be new thoughts and approaches to manage crowds of this nature.”

During this festival, the faithful also received bracelets for real -time follow -up, which helps locate individuals if they disappear and improve overall security.

Anna Sieben, associate professor of cultural and social psychology at the University of Saint-Gallen in Switzerland, who is doing research on the dynamics of crowds for years, stressed that people who find themselves in a jostling often do not realize that Something is not before it is too late.

Dirk Helbing, professor of IT social sciences in Eth Zurich in Switzerland, assigned prints to a phenomenon called “turbulence of the crowd”.

This happens when many people move in a space where there is little room to move and a high density of people and where people are in a hurry.

“This is precisely what can have happened in the Kumbh. The danger is still hidden in such huge congregations. This is why even a rumor can lead to stamps, and people ignore what caused it “Said Azad.

Published by: Wesley Rahn