At least 30 persons were killed and 60 injured after a stampede broke out at the site of Maha Kumbh in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj in the early hours on Wednesday, said Vaibhav Krishna, the deputy inspector general of police overseeing the pilgrimage, reported ANI.

Krishna added that 25 of those who died have been identified so far.

The stampede broke out between 1 am and 2 am as a large number of pilgrims arrived to take a holy bath on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, a spiritually significant day in the Hindu calendar, reported PTI.

“Due to this crowd, the barricades on the other side broke and the crowd ran over the devotees waiting to take a holy dip on the other side,” Krishna was quoted as saying by ANI.

He added that 36 persons were being treated at the local medical college and the situation is normal.

The administration had not provided an official toll till nearly 15 hours after the accident. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed condolences to “the devotees who have lost their loved ones” and said he hoped for the speedy recovery of those injured.

Earlier in the day, Rajesh Dwivedi, the senior superintendent of police, claimed that no stampede had taken place.

“It was just overcrowding because of which some devotees got injured,” Dwivedi told ANI. “The situation is completely under control. No kind of rumours must be paid heed to...”

Dwivedi said that several ghats had been developed and pilgrims could “easily take a dip in those ghats”.

The Maha Kumbh Mela began on January 13 and will go on till February 26.

In a social media message posted at 7.54 am, Chief Minister Adityanath appealed to pilgrims not to go towards Sangam Nose for the holy bath. He had also urged visitors to follow the instructions issued by the administration and not to pay attention to rumours.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the stampede was “caused by mismanagement” and urged the Uttar Pradesh government to hand over the administration of the event to the Army.

“With the truth behind the claims of a ‘world-class system’ having been exposed, those who were making these claims and spreading false propaganda should take moral responsibility for the people killed in this accident and resign from their posts,” he added.