Berhampur: The 41 devotees from Ganjam district who are at the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj are reportedly safe even as a stampede at the world’s biggest gathering of humanity that killed nearly 30. The Ganjam devotees, who are mostly form Berhampur, left for Prayagraj on a special bus of the state-owned Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) from silk city on Monday to take a holy dip in Sangam on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya.
Arabinda Mohanty, the manager of the bus service who guided the devotees, said, “All the members of the group are safe.”
“The (stampede) incident took place while we went to take a holy dip in Sangam around 3pm. The stampede site, however, was very crowded as people are seen running here and there, while several others were searching for their relatives in the crowd,” Bala Krushna Pradhan, one of the 41 devotees, said. “We heaved a sigh of relief when we came to know that none from our group was injured,” Pradhan added.
“After taking a holy dip, we searched for information about the others, but all were gathered near the bus stand after some time,” Prabhakar Swain, another devotee, said.
The devotees, however, could not visit any akhada to seek the sadhus’ blessings due to the strict restriction on devotees’ movement following the stampede.
Of the 41 devotees, several are coming back to Ganjam district on Thursday on the same special bus of the OSRTC. They were planning to visit the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya as well, but after the stampede, they have decided to come back.