A video spread online shows an annual stone-pelting ritual in northern India, contrary to claims by social media posts that presented it as Hindu pilgrims attacking each other at the Kumbh Mela mega-festival.

India's Kumbh Mela festival attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful to Prayagraj in northern Uttar Pradesh state, but footage of an elderly monk making an offering at a shrine that circulated online is unrelated.

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.

More than seven people were killed in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian holy city of Prayagraj on Wednesday.

Authorities say that at least 30 people have died and a further 60 were injured in a crowd crush at the massive Kumbh Mela festival in India. The world's biggest religious festival and humanity's largest gathering,

According to the Indian government, some 400 million people were expected to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela, the most important religious event in Hinduism, held this year in Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26.

The world's largest religious gathering, the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India, turned deadly Wednesday, with officials confirming at least 30 deaths and 60 people injured in a stampede on the biggest day of the festival.

View of devotees at India’s Maha Kumbh Mela after casualties reported Thousands of ash smeared Hindu holy men lead millions of devotees to take a dip in the icy waters of the holy rivers Ganga Yamuna and Saraswati during the second "Shahi Snan" (royal bath) to mark Mauni Amawasya,