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.

At least 17 people were killed and many more injured in a stampede at India's Maha Kumbh festival, the world's largest religious gathering, a doctor at a government hospital said, as tens of thousands of pilgrims rushed to dip in sacred river waters during the Hindu event.

By Adnan Abidi, Saurabh Sharma and Shivam Patel PRAYAGRAJ, India (Reuters) -Nearly 40 bodies were brought to a hospital morgue after a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India on Wednesday, three police sources told Reuters,