Second crush 3km away turns fatal, claims 7 lives

A second tragic crowd crush took place just three kilometers away from the Sangam nose, where an earlier stampede had already killed around 30 people. The second incident happened at Jhusi, near the ghat, and left seven people dead, including three women and a three-year-old child. More than a dozen others were critically injured.

Stampede at Jhusi Ghat

The chaos began early Wednesday morning when a large number of devotees were leaving the nearest ghat after taking a holy dip. As they moved towards Jhusi to exit the Maha Kumbh area, they collided with another group of pilgrims coming from the opposite direction. The crowd kept growing for hours as more people joined in from both sides.

Suresh Bind, an eyewitness working at a nearby electric substation, described the terrifying scene. Around 2 PM, the crowd became so dense that people had no space to move. In panic, some stormed into the substation, damaging equipment, tables, and tin sheets. Authorities had to shut down a 400KVA transformer to prevent electrocution.

The heavy crowd pressure caused several people to fall. Those who fell couldn’t get up, leading to the deaths of seven devotees. Their bodies were later found at the gate of the substation.

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Delayed official response

Despite this major tragedy, state officials remained silent about the second incident. During a briefing on the first stampede, officials admitted that 30 people had died but did not mention the second crush.

Local police confirmed the second tragedy but lacked clear details about the deceased. The station house officer of Kalpvasi police station, Ajab Singh, said they received information around 2 PM and arrived at the scene soon after. Ambulances were called, and the injured were taken to hospitals, though their conditions remained uncertain.

The stampede happened on Mauni Amavasya, one of the holiest days of the Kumbh Mela. The state government estimated that 76.5 million people had taken a dip at the sacred confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers that day.