New Delhi, India - At least seven people died in a stampede Wednesday as millions of Hindu devotees crowded to bathe in the holy Ganges river in the northern Indian city of Haridwar.
Five men, a woman and an infant died in a stampede on a crowded bridge, triggered when a car belonging to a Hindu religious sect leader hit some members of the crowd, the Times of India newspaper said on its website.
The streets of Haridwar have been crowded with huge numbers of pilgrims queuing up to take a "holy dip" in the Ganges, in the final days of one of the world's largest religious assemblies.
The accident led to protests by Hindu holy men, or sadhus, angry over the lack of arrangements by the local authorities, the report said.
The three-month Maha Kumbh Mela, or gathering, is held once every 12 years according to the Hindu calendar, and rotates between four Indian pilgrimage spots located along the country's rivers.
Hindus believe a ritual bath in the Ganges during certain auspicious bathing days of the Maha Kumbh Mela washes away all sins.
Nearly 9 million pilgrims had taken a dip in the river since Tuesday, the report said. Wednesday was the last of the auspicious bathing days of the festival that concludes at the end of April.
The 2001 Maha Kumbh Mela in the northern city of Allahabad drew 60 million people over 45 days.
Accidents and stampedes are not uncommon during the Maha Kumbh Mela, and there have been fatalities at earlier congregations. At least 39 people were killed at Nashik in southern India in 2003 and more than 600 at Allahabad in 1954.