Moments before a deadly stampede at the world's biggest religious gathering in India, Hindu devotees queuing to take a spiritual bath in a river said they pleaded with police to open barricaded routes to thin out a surging crowd.

It was expected multiple millions of devotees would throng into Maha Kumbh Mela on Wednesday, January 29, on the auspicious occasion of Mauni Amavasya. The sacred day turned out to be tragic for many families as a sudden stampede due to the massive influx of lakhs of pilgrims claimed the lives of at least 30 people.

More than seven people were killed and around 10 injured in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India on Wednesday, said an official, as tens of millions gathered to take a holy dip on the most auspicious day of the six-week Hindu festival.

Millions of Hindus are gathering in a northern Indian city for the Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious congregation.

Families from West Bengal allege that bodies of their relatives, who died in a Maha Kumbh Mela stampede, were returned without official death certificates. The victims, Basanti Poddar and Urmila Bhuniya,

Nearly 40 people were killed in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday and several others injured in a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela - a Hindu religious festival touted to be the largest human gathering in the world.

A senior police officer said at least 30 people died as a crowd panicked at the Hindu Kumbh Mela mega-festival in the northern city of Prayagraj.

In Prayagraj, millions of Hindus gathered for the Maha Kumbh festival after a tragic stampede. Despite concerns, pilgrims continue prayerful rituals, while authorities investigate and improve crowd control measures.