STORY: More than 36 hours after a deadly stampede at India's Maha Kumbh Mela festival claimed dozens of lives, distraught relatives frantically searched hospitals and mortuaries for missing loved ones.

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.

Many were feared dead after millions of Hindu pilgrims at a huge Hindu festival in India rushed to bathe in holy river waters.

A judicial commission led by retired judge Harsh Kumar visited Prayagraj to investigate the Maha Kumbh stampede. The incident at Sangam Nose resulted in 30 fatalities. The panel, accompanied by police and officials,

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.

Stampede breaks out at Kumbh festival in India

A three-member judicial commission set up by the Uttar Pradesh government began its investigation into the Maha Kumbh stampede in Prayagraj. The incident, which resulted in 30 deaths, occurred at Sangam Nose.