What is the Maha Kumbh Mela and why does it attract millions of Hindus? - Officials had been preparing for months for the world’s largest religious festival, with around 400 million Hindu pilgrims exp

Images showed the ground strewn with belongings and bodies as frantic devotees tried to climb over barricades.

The incident happened at the Kumbh Mela festival when people who were sleeping by the riverbanks in Prayagraj were trampled by others who had taken a dip in the holy waters. Emergency officials have been seen taking away what appeared to be bodies on stretchers.