Witnesses describe surging crowds that trampled people on the banks of the Ganges as they arrived to bathe on one of the most auspicious days of the Hindu festival

• India crowd crushes – latest updates

Dozens of people are feared to have died in crowd crushes at India’s Kumbh Mela festival, local officials at the scene have said, as vast crowds of people went to bathe at one of the holiest sites of the Hindu gathering.

People were crushed in the early hours of Wednesday as tens of millions of people flocked to immerse themselves in the sacred confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, on one of the most auspicious days of the Hindu festival.