BBC reports: At least 12 pilgrims have died in a stampede during a festival in India.

The Reuters agency, citing three police sources, writes that the bodies of about 40 individuals were delivered to the morgue nearest to the festival. There is still no official data available.

The stampede occurred at night as pilgrims attempted to break through and jump over police barricades on their way to the so-called "Nose of Sangam" – the site where three sacred rivers in Hinduism converge: the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati. Believers consider that bathing there best purifies the soul.

It was expected that around one hundred million people would participate in the ritual. Authorities have not provided an exact number of casualties and injuries but confirmed that there are some. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the pilgrims "who lost their loved ones" and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, also wrote that she would pray for those affected by the stampede.

Authorities and police are urging pilgrims to bathe in other locations and not to insist on going to Sangam, yet the believers are "shocked by the incident" but have no intention of abandoning their plans to bathe in the sacred site, reports the BBC. "[...] I cannot go back without bathing. Faith is everything to me," said one of the pilgrims to reporters.

By noon, 42 million people had bathed. The Indian festival Maha Kumbh Mela, held once every 144 years, began on January 13. The main tradition of the festival is immersion in water for the sake of soul purification. It is expected that the events, which will last until February 26, will attract over 400 million Hindu pilgrims.