At least seven people were killed and around 10 injured in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India on Wednesday, said an official, as tens of millions gathered to take a holy dip on the most auspicious day of the six-week Hindu festival.

The stampede occurred between 1 am and 2 am near the arena of the ascetics, where barricades had been put up to manage crowds during their holy dip, said Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state where the festival city of Prayagraj is located.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, offered condolences to "devotees who have lost their loves ones", but did not specify the number of dead.

"The local administration is engaged in helping the victims in every possible way", he said.

Adityanath added that the situation was under control but the crowd was still massive.

A senior state official said "more than seven people have been killed in the stampede and around 10 others injured". The official did not want to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Videos and photographs after the stampede showed bodies being taken away on stretchers and people sitting on the ground crying, while others stepped over clothes, shoes, backpacks and blankets left by those trying to escape the crush.

A Reuters witness saw several dead bodies as he followed dozens of ambulances rushing towards the river bank where the incident occurred.

Witnesses spoke of a huge push near the confluence of three holy rivers - where a dip is considered particularly sacred - that caused devotees to fall on each other. Chief Minister Adityanath urged people to avoid the area.

The Hindu festival is the world's largest congregation of humanity, attracting some 400 million over its six weeks compared with the Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia which drew 1.8 million last year. By Tuesday nearly 200 million people have attended the 2025 festival since it started two weeks ago.

Devout Hindus believe taking a dip at the confluence of three sacred rivers - the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mythical, invisible Saraswati - absolves people of sins, and during the Kumbh, it also brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.

A similar stampede broke out on the most auspicious day of the festival when it was last held in 2013, killing at least 36 pilgrims, mostly women. (Reuters)