Mahakumbh Nagar, Jan. 30 -- A heap of colourful clothes, lone slippers without their pairs, torn bags, and hastily abandoned blankets lay strewn across the ground at Sangam Nose, a grim reminder of the chaos that unfolded in the early hours of the morning. Among the debris, a packet of roti-left untouched-spoke of pilgrims who had arrived with hope and devotion but left in panic.
A stampede broke out around 1 am, as millions of devotees surged forward for the 'Amrit Snan' on Mauni Amavasya, one of the holiest days of the six-week-long Maha Kumbh. More than 30 people were injured, and several others are feared dead in the crush near the sacred confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati rivers.
Even as the police cordoned o...