A second crush 3km away claimed 7 lives

Hours after a stampede killed an estimated 30 people at the nose of the Sangam at the Maha Kumbh, there was another stampede-like situation that led to the deaths of at least seven people, including a child, according to Kalpvasi police station circle officer Rudra Kumar Singh.

- Kenneth John [e-mail]

PRAYAGRAJ: Hours after a stampede killed an estimated 30 people at the nose of the Sangam at the Maha Kumbh, there was another stampede-like situation that led to the deaths of at least seven people, including a child, according to Kalpvasi police station circle officer Rudra Kumar Singh.

This incident occurred at Jhusi, along the ghat about three kilometres away from the Sangam nose, Singh said.

"Seven people were found dead at the spot at Jhusi due to excessive crowd pressure," the circle officer told HT.

Strangely, the state administration chose to remain silent about this incident, even during the briefing on the first stampede at 7 pm on Wednesday, by district magistrate Mahakumbh Nagar Vijay Kiran Anand and mela DIG Vaibhav Krishna, during which they admitted that 30 people had died in a stampede at the nose of the Sangam between 1 am and 2 am on Wednesday.