Officials had been preparing for months for the world’s largest religious festival, with around 400 million Hindu pilgrims expected to take part

More than seven people were killed in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian holy city of Prayagraj on Wednesday.

Many were feared dead after millions of Hindu pilgrims at a huge Hindu festival in India rushed to bathe in holy river waters.

The Hindu festival that turned deadly in northern India on Wednesday is a religious gathering with deep spiritual meaning for devotees who come by the millions to take a cleansing dip in waters they consider sacred.

Millions of devout Hindus thronged the northern Indian city of Prayagraj on Thursday for the Maha Kumbh festival, a day after dozens died in a stampede on the most auspicious day of the six-week event.