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.

Police said 30 people were killed in the crush at the world's biggest gathering of humanity and 90 were injured, but sources told Reuters the death toll was nearly 40. Some witnesses spoke of a huge push towards the rivers that caused devotees to fall on each other,

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.