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.

Millions of Hindu pilgrims gathered in Prayagraj, India, for the Maha Kumbh Mela festival, but thousands were trampled after crowds surged toward the confluence of two rivers.