Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Wednesday ordered a judicial probe into the stampede during the Maha Kumbh pilgrimage in Prayagraj that resulted in the death of at least 30 persons.

“There is a need to get to the bottom of the accident,” Adityanath told reporters. “For this, a three-member judicial commission is being formed.”

The stampede broke out between 1 am and 2 am on Wednesday 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.

“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,” said Vaibhav Krishna, the deputy inspector general of police overseeing the pilgrimage.

He added that apart from those who died, nearly 60 persons were injured.

Later in the day, Adityanath expressed condolences to the families of those who died and announced financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh for them.

He said that the judicial commission to probe the incident will be led by retired Allahabad High Court Justice Harsh Kumar and comprise former Director General of Police VK Gupta and retired bureaucrat DK Singh.

A separate inquiry will be conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Police, added the chief minister.

The judicial probe will focus on identifying the cause and circumstances of the stampede and recommend measures to prevent future occurrences. The committee has been given a one-month deadline for the report, subject to extension.

“These incidents give us lessons as well,” said Adityanath. “We have decided to go into the roots of this incident. We will conduct a judicial inquiry into it because after so many reviews of arrangements and keeping vigilance at the local level such a tragedy took place.”

The chief minister said it was “very natural” that questions were being raised on the stampede.

“This Mauni Amavasya Snan is the main Snan and all the roads were choked,” he added. “The administration was engaged to clear those choked roads. After the incident, the akharas had postponed the Amrit Snan scheduled at 4 am and this was done later in the afternoon.”

Adityanath said that after the incident, pilgrims in Prayagraj were temporarily held in nearby districts with designated waiting areas and were later released. There is heavy pressure on railway stations, with over 300 trains being operated to transport the pilgrims to their destinations, he added.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav called the stampede “unfortunate” and alleged that there was a lack of arrangements for the pilgrimage. He demanded a list of those who died and missing persons, reported ANI.

“This is unfortunate because the government was inviting people,” Yadav said. “The government is not supposed to do that. It was an unprecedented move.”

He added: “BJP cannot back away from the responsibility. I will not go to meet the victims because if I do, the BJP will accuse me of politicising the matter...”