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,

A stampede at the Maha Kumbh on January 29 resulted in 30 deaths and 60 injuries as millions gathered for Mauni Amavasya. The Uttar Pradesh government announced ₹25 lakh assistance for victims’ families and initiated a judicial inquiry into the incident.

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