In the Indian capital New Delhi, at least eighteen people were killed and eleven were injured as a result of oppression on a train station. At that time it was very busy and chaotic at the station because thousands of people tried to reach the Kumbh Mela – the largest religious event in the world. Various press agencies, including AFP.
Among the dead are at least four children and ten women, reports BBC. Most deaths fell due to oxygen deficiency or physical injury, according to a chief of a hospital in New Delhi.
The Hindustani meeting, in which believers can eliminate their sins in one of the four holy rivers, is organized once every twelve years and lasts until 26 February. For this, hundreds of millions go to Prayagraj, the city where the event takes place. In addition, things go wrong more often. This is also the case last month, when at least thirty people died in a tribulation while bathing in holy water.
400 million visitors
Although the event is not a spiritual duty, the festival is getting bigger and bigger. The Indian government expects a total of around 400 million pilgrims to come to the event this year. “Among other things, because Bollywood actors invented their participation in previous editions, the image is increasingly created that you must be there,” said professor Sanskrit and ancient cultures of South Asia Peter Bisschop (Leiden University) earlier against NRC.
The Indian government takes safety measures due to the enormous crowds. According to AP news agency, a total of 50,000 safety employees and 2,500 cameras – which map out the crowds – are deployed with AI.
The event attracts many scientists from different disciplines every edition to do research into, among other things crowd control. Research shows, for example, that it is precisely during religious moments, the risk of tribulation and troubling is increasing.
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The disaster immediately leads to political fingering in Dehli. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said X That the government and the Indian railways are guilty of the disaster: “This incident again underlines the failure of the railways and the insensitivity of the government. Given the large number of believers who went to Prayagraj, better arrangements at the station should have been made. “
Last month’s incident also led to a lot of noise from Indian politics. Opposition members accused the authorities according to BBC Not being transparent about the cause of the tribulation.
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