1954 Kumbh Mela Stampede
On February 3, 1954, a festival of Kumbh Mela was held in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh state in India. It was estimated that 4 to 5 million pilgrims arrived for this festival. This was unprecedented, because more people than usual were out celebrating after India’s independence. The trouble began when the massive crowd broke through a barrier that was meant to separate the audience from a procession of holy men who were walking in a procession. Once the barriers broke down, this resulted in a stampede for some reason. The body count varies drastically depending on the source. Somewhere between 350 to 800 people passed, and up to 2,000 people were injured. Believe it or not, Kumbh Mela stampedes happened for multiple years, claiming dozens of lives. But 1954 was the year with the most lives lost.