Kumbh stampede: Countless devotees still missing, some reunite with kin

More than 36 hours have passed since the stampede at Maha Kumbh, but Jitendra Sahu has not caught a wink of sleep as he frantically looks for his 70-year-old aunt Shakuntala Devi, who has been missing since the disaster in the early hours of Wednesday, 29 January.

Shakuntala Devi had arrived at the Maha Kumbh from Gwalior with a group of 15 devotees. "We have had no contact with my aunt since the incident. She has an identity card around her neck. Her phone is unreachable and she has not contacted anyone. We don't know what to do," Sahu told PTI as he fought back tears.

Amidst the chaos, reports emerged of yet another fire in Sector 22 of the mela grounds, with 15 tents reportedly reduced to ashes, though no casualties have been reported as yet. This follows a big fire on Sunday, 26 January from a cylinder blast, engulfing 18 tents in Sector 19, officials said. There were no reports of any casualties from that fire either.

Chief fire officer (Kumbh) Pramod Sharma said information about a fire was received this afternoon and the fire was extinguished immediately. He said owing to lack of proper roads, fire engines had difficulty in reaching the spot. However, the fire was completely extinguished and there was no loss of life or injury, he added.

Sharma said according to the SDM, these tents were unauthorised. "Fifteen tents were gutted in this fire. The cause of the fire is being investigated," he said.

The stampede tragedy struck between 1.00 and 2.00 am on Wednesday, when a huge crowd broke through barriers and trampled over devotees who had been waiting overnight at the ghats to take a holy dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, one of the most auspicious days of the Hindu calendar.

Nearly 18 hours after the incident, the mela administration, at a brief press conference, confirmed that 30 people had died and 60 injured in the stampede. A judicial inquiry has since been ordered into the incident.

However, several families like Sahu's continue their desperate search for loved ones. While some of the missing persons have reunited with their families, many remain unaccounted for. The majority of those still missing are women.

Phooli Nishad from Dheha Dera village in Hamirpur has been missing since Mauni Amavasya. Her son Rajesh Nishad, who works in Ahmedabad, said, "My mother, father, uncle, and aunt had travelled to the Kumbh Mela for a holy dip at the Sangam. After taking a dip on Mauni Amavasya evening, my mother was separated from the family and we have had no contact with her since."

The same is the case with Maya Singh. The Deoria resident had come to Maha Kumbh with six or seven of her relatives to take a dip at the confluence of three rivers on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya.

"Our group had travelled from Banaras to Sahso Chauraha, where we parked our vehicle before entering the mela area. After the bath, we gathered at Sahso Chauraha to return home but Maya got separated due to jostling by the huge crowd and has been missing since. We have not been able to find her despite extensive searches and inquiries," her husband Janardhan Singh said.

While the anxious wait continues for many families, some have been fortunate to reunite with their loved ones. Among them is Renu Lata Nandi from Odisha's Kendrapara, who had been missing since Tuesday night after taking a dip in the Ganga.

"My mother got separated from our group after the bath. We were extremely worried, especially after hearing about the stampede. But today, a fellow villager from our group of 26 people found her in Sector 20. We are all relieved," her son Amar Kumar Nandi, said.

Aligarh resident Snehlata (68) had travelled to the Maha Kumbh alone. She lost her belongings and went missing on Tuesday. However, she managed to find her way back home by Wednesday night. Her son Gyanendra Kumar Sharma said, "My mother always travels alone for pilgrimages because my father has difficulty walking. Somehow, she managed to return home by train last night. Her purse and other belongings were also recovered and have now been kept at the Maha Kumbh fair ground's Sector 4 lost-and-found centre."

Some of those who lost touch with the group they had travelled to Prayagraj with were making efforts to return home alone. Among the many were an elderly couple from Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar, Ram Sanehi and Bitta Devi. "Now, we are just trying to find a way to reach the railway station and board a train to Gorakhpur. But we have no idea how to get there," said Sanehi, wearing a hearing aid in one ear and thick eyeglasses.

Umesh Chandra Tiwari, who runs the lost-and-found camp of the Bharat Seva Dal in Sector 4, highlighted that the new digital lost-and-found centre is proving effective in reconnecting people. "Most of the missing person reports are now being registered there, and they are coordinating with us to help track people," he said.

However, the sheer scale of the situation remains overwhelming. By Wednesday evening, hundreds of people were seen lying exhausted in and around the digital lost-and-found centre, waiting for news of their missing loved ones. Many were too weary to even approach officials for help.

With PTI inputs