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.

Dozens of worshippers are feared dead and many more injured following a stampede or crush Wednesday at the massive Kumbh Mela religious festival in northern India, according to officials.

Thirty people were killed in the stampede that happened just before dawn at the Maha Kumbh venue in Prayagraj of India's Uttar Pradesh, the police chief that oversees security at the massive religious gathering told reporters on Wednesday, January 29.