Amid Maha Kumbh horror, a look at major stampedes in India over the years

A stampede broke out at the Triveni Sangam in the Maha Kumbh mela on Wednesday as crores of people gathered to celebrate ‘Mauni Amavasya’ and take holy dip.

Several people were feared dead after a stampede at the Maha Kumbh mela in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj on Wednesday, on one of the holiest days of the event, as tens of millions gathered at the site.

Pilgrims arrive to take a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam on the occasion of 'Mauni Amavasya' during the Maha Kumbh mela in Prayagraj on January 29, 2025. (AFP)

Here is a list of major stampedes in India over previous years, most of them at religious festivals or gatherings:

JANUARY 2025: At least six people were killed and 35 injured in a stampede near one of India's busiest and richest temples in Andhra Pradesh, after thousands of devout Hindus assembled there to secure free visit passes.

JULY 2024: Around 121 people died after thousands of devotees rushed to get a closer glimpse of a Hindu preacher in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh.

JANUARY 2022: At least 12 people died and more were injured in a stampede at the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir, after a huge crowd of devotees tried to enter the narrow shrine.

NOVEMBER 2013: Around 115 people were killed and more than a hundred injured after a stampede at the Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh after more than 150,000 people gathered to celebrate Navratri, a nine-day festival that celebrates the Goddess Durga.

FEBRUARY, 2013: At least 36 Hindu pilgrims were killed in a stampede on the busiest day of the Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh in 2013. Of the dead, 27 were women, including an eight-year-old girl.

MARCH 2010: At least 63 people, more than half of them children, were killed in a stampede triggered by a massive rush for free food and clothes at a Hindu temple in Uttar Pradesh, media reported.

SEPTEMBER 2008: A total of 250 people were trampled to death at the Chamundagar temple in Rajasthan as pilgrims gathered to celebrate Navratri.

AUGUST 2008: At the mountaintop Naina Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh, about 145 Hindu pilgrims died after rumours of a landslide triggered a stampede.

JANUARY 2005: More than 265 Hindu devotees were killed and hundreds more injured after a stampede at the Mandhardevi temple in Wai town in Maharashtra. The stampede was caused by slippery steps leading up to the temple, media reported at the time.