Families mourn loved ones who died in India crush

Families of people who were killed in a crush at a major religious festival in northern India this week are grieving their loss and waiting to take bodies of their relatives back home.

At least 30 people died in the crush at the Kumbh Mela on Wednesday, which was one of the holiest days of the six-week long Hindu festival.

The incident took place in Prayagraj city near the Sangam, an auspicious meeting point of the sacred Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers where devotees take a dip.

The festival, billed as the largest gathering of humanity, attracts tens of millions of pilgrims from around the world.

Warning: The story has details that some readers may find distressing

The crush reportedly took place after a surge of pilgrims making their way to the Sangam trampled over devotees sleeping near the riverbank.

Eyewitnesses have blamed the police and festival authorities for poor crowd-control measures and not making adequate space for pilgrims to move to their destinations.

The government in Uttar Pradesh state has launched a judicial investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, the families of the victims are mourning the loss of their loved ones and some say that many of their questions remain unanswered. Others are still waiting for news of their relatives.

Kaikeyi Devi, who travelled from Bihar state with her husband to attend the Kumbh Mela, says she can’t shake the image of him getting trampled in front of her eyes.

“He was dragged in the chaos and we started crying… ‘Let him free! Let him be! We are here!’…but he never came [back],” Ms Devi told Reuters news agency as she waited outside a mortuary in Prayagraj city to collect her husband’s body.

Taposh Roy, a resident of Assam state who lost his brother in the crush, recounts the delay in getting help from authorities.

“He was just lying there for a long time because there was no ambulance to take him to the hospital. We pleaded with the police saying that we would carry him ourselves but they told us to wait. When he was taken by police, we couldn’t go with him,” Mr Roy told the Indian Express newspaper.

This was also the experience of Tarun Bose from West Bengal state who lost a female relative in the crush.

“The authorities failed to rescue her and the police only managed to retrieve her body after an hour and a half. There were no police officers around during the accident,” he told AFP news agency.

Deepak Hattarwat from Karnataka state is mourning the loss of his wife and daughter. He didn’t travel to the festival and says that he found out about their deaths only a day later and that too from a fellow traveller in their group.

“We were planning her [the daughter’s] wedding. What should I do and for whom should I live now?” Mr Hattarwat told the Indian Express newspaper.

Meanwhile, some people say that they are still searching for their loved ones, more than 48 hours after the incident took place.

Manoj Kumar Sahni from Bihar state told Reuters news agency that he has been desperately searching for his father who is missing.

“I have been searching for him since the last three days. I went to the hospital as well but didn’t find him. We also searched at the railway station and the bus stand but did not find him,” he said.

Since the incident, authorities have stepped up security measures in the festival and have also banned vehicles from entering the mela grounds until 4 February. The next auspicious bathing day is on Monday, when the festival is expected to witness massive crowds.