Mahakumbh Nagar, 29 Jan

Shoes, slippers and clothes scattered at the site speak about the chaos that unfolded at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh early Wednesday. Devotees recounted the horrific incident saying people were pushing each other to take a dip at the auspicious time on Mauni Amavasya.

Several people were killed and many injured in the stampede which took place at around 2am as crores of pilgrims jostled for space to take the holy dip.

Going by eyewitness accounts, one of the reasons for the tragedy was the sudden surge of pilgrims at the Samgam who had gathered at the Maha Kumbh from across the country — all driven by an obvious desire to take the holy dip at 3am, the start of the auspicious hour.

“Many devotees had patiently waited for the auspicious hour. Several of them were sitting on the ground, and some were even lying down near the ghats. The bathing site was barricaded.

"Past midnight a sudden surge of devotees led to barricades coming apart, and in the melee many people who were sleeping or sitting on the ground were run over,” said Madhumita, a devotee from Assam who claimed to have witnessed the tragedy.

Badama Devi, an elderly woman from Bihar's Begusarai, broke down while recounting the tragedy, saying she had come to the Maha Kumbh to take the dip at the propitious moment.

"We knew that this moment would not come again in our lifetime, and that is why we had travelled from so far and waited all this while to be able to take the bath in the Ganga at the auspicious moment,” Devi said.

“Lagta hai Ganga Mai ka ihai manzoor rahan (it seems that mother Ganga willed it so).”

Ram Sumiran from Palamu, Jharkhand, reflected on the stampede.

Before the tragedy, a video of the Prayagraj Divisional Commissioner, Vijay Vishwas Pant urging devotees to take precautions has now gone viral.