The late release of casualty figures at the gathering of millions of people was seen as shielding the political fortunes of a local leader with national aspirations.

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.

PRAYAGRAJ, India — At least 30 people were killed and many more injured in a stampede at the world’s largest religious gathering early Wednesday, police said, as millions of pilgrims rushed to dip in sacred waters during the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India.

Grieving families in India are cremating their loved ones while others are caring for their injured relatives in hospitals a day after a stampede.

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.

Indian authorities have ordered a probe into the stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela Hindu festival that killed dozens of devotees on Wednesday as millions gathered for a "holy dip" in sacred river waters as part of the six-week event,

Nearly 40 bodies were brought to a hospital morgue near the site of a stampede at the Maha Kumbh festival in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, three police sources told Reuters. There has been no official announcement of casualties from the local government,

People were trampled as pilgrims at the Maha Kumbh Mela, one of the world’s biggest gatherings, gathered where the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers meet.