Multiple casualties were feared after a stampede-like incident broke out at a Hindu religious festival, the Maha Kumbh Mela, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, India's The Hindu newspaper reported early hours,

People were trampled as pilgrims rushed to bathe in holy waters at the Maha Kumbh Mela, a huge Hindu festival. Many pilgrims rushed to safety while first responders searched the site. People looked for their loved ones and their belongings.

Moments before a deadly stampede at the world's biggest religious gathering in India, Hindu devotees queuing to take a spiritual bath in a river said they pleaded with police to open barricaded routes to thin out a surging crowd.