One eyewitness Devi shared that her mother and other elderly people collapsed in the crowd triggering chaos and making it difficult for people to avoid being trampled. Many others were knocked down and as a result numerous people were seriously injured.

Initially authorities reported the death toll as 30 but some claimed the actual number could be much higher. On site witnesses at the morgue confirmed seeing at least 39 bodies by late afternoon though the police claimed these were unrelated deaths.

The crowd at the festival was much larger than expected with 80 million people attending four times the anticipated size. Many devotees attempted to reach the main bathing area at the confluence of three rivers resulting in a surge of people and a lack of space. Police had been alerted to the crowd surge an hour before the stampede occurred but the situation had escalated by the time additional forces arrived.

The path to the bathing area was narrow only about 50 feet wide with barricades to control the flow of people. Authorities are now considering dividing the festival site into smaller sectors to better manage the crowd in the future.

One woman Kanchan  expressed her grief accusing the police of causing her husband’s death due to poor planning and crowd management. Another eyewitness medical student Shweta Arya criticized the festival administration for their failure to remove the barricades claiming that lives could have been saved if the police had acted differently.

The incident has sparked political debates with opposition parties blaming the government for not taking proper measures. They argued that the focus had been more on providing amenities for celebrities and VIPs rather than ensuring the safety of the general public.

In response the festival administration has vowed to reconsider their crowd management strategy and take steps to prevent future tragedies. They are exploring ways to improve the flow of pilgrims and enhance safety measures at the event.