The late release of casualty figures at the gathering of millions of people was seen as shielding the political fortunes of a local leader with national aspirations.

Grieving families cremated their loved ones while others cared for their injured relatives in hospitals on Thursday, a day after a stampede killed at least 30 people and injured 60 others on a riverbank at the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India.

At least 30 people were killed and another 60 injured in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh festival, a six-week Hindu festival and the world’s largest religious gathering.

Moments before a deadly stampede at the world's biggest religious gathering in India, Hindu devotees queuing to take a spiritual bath in a river said they pleaded with police to open barricaded routes to thin out a surging crowd.

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.

(Reuters) - Multiple casualties were feared after a stampede-like incident broke out at a Hindu religious festival, the Maha Kumbh Mela, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, India's The Hindu newspaper reported early hours, citing news agency PTI.

Many were feared dead after millions of Hindu pilgrims at a huge Hindu festival in India rushed to bathe in holy river waters.