Several people have been confirmed dead following a huge stampede after millions of Hindus rushed to bathe in holy river waters located in the Indian city of Prayagraj as part of the annual Maha Kumbh Mela festival on Wednesday.

According to the New York Times, the rush to enter into the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, which Hindus consider sacred, resulted in people pulling down safety barriers and crushing thousands of people who were sleeping at the river banks on their way in.

Dozens of lifeless bodies were left on the ground with their bodies and faces covered as emergency personnel carried some away on stretchers and into ambulances — the number of people trying to escape after bathing in the river caused the number of casualties to increase significantly,

“They were inviting us here to die,” said Ajay Singh, a farmer from the district of Gonda in Uttar Pradesh.

“They invited devotees through media, channels, phones, newspapers,” but mismanaged the event, Mr Singh added.

Hours after the incident, government officials are yet to release details regarding the number of casualties, but reports in the local media said dozens of people died in the stampede. 

Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, added that some devotees had been “seriously injured.”