Entry of devotees who came to take the royal bath of Mauni Amavasya was stopped, a record-breaking 4.64 crore people reached Prayagraj yesterday..
There was a stampede on the banks of Sangam in Prayagraj mahakumbh at around 1.30 am on Tuesday-Wednesday night. According to a Bhaskar reporter present at Swaroop Rani Hospital, 14 bodies have been brought for postmortem. However, the administration has not given any information about the death toll or the number of injured.
After the stampede, on the request of the administration, all 13 akhadas have cancelled the Amrit Snan of Mauni Amavasya today. Akhara Parishad President Ravindra Puri said – This decision has been taken due to excessive crowding at Sangam Naka.
According to Bhaskar reporters present at Ground Zero, a rumour led to a stampede at Sangam Nak. Some women fell on the ground and people rushed over them. After the accident, more than 70 ambulances reached the Sangam bank. The injured and the dead were taken to the hospital.
After the accident, NSG commandos took charge on the banks of the Sangam. The Sangam Nak area was closed to the general public. To prevent the crowd from increasing further in Prayagraj, officers have been put on alert in all the districts bordering Prayagraj city to stop the devotees.
Today is the Mauni Amavasya bath in Mahakumbh, due to which it is estimated that about 5 crore devotees will be present in the city. According to the administration, by late night, 8 to 10 crore devotees are likely to bathe at 44 ghats including Sangam.
A day before this, on Tuesday, more than 5.5 crore devotees took bath in the Sangam. More than 60 thousand soldiers have been deployed for security.