Moments before a deadly stampede at the world's biggest religious gathering in India, Hindu devotees queuing to take a spiritual bath in a river said they pleaded with police to open barricaded routes to thin out a surging crowd.

Live: The Odisha government cancelled the special bus service to the Maha Kumbh Mela until February 4, according to an official notice issued on Thursday, news agency PTI reported. The notice said, "Due to unavoidable circumstances,

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.