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.

Several people were injured in the stampede at the Maha Kumbh, and many families have been separated amid the chaos.

Several people are feared dead after a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela Uttar Pradesh Prayagraj on Wednesday as scores of people turned up for a holy dip in the Ganga on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya.

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.

At least 30 people were killed and many more injured in a stampede at the world's largest religious gathering early Wednesday, police said, as millions of pilgrims rushed to dip in sacred waters during the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India.

Indian authorities have ordered a probe into the stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela Hindu festival that killed dozens of devotees on Wednesday as millions gathered for a "holy dip" in sacred river waters as part of the six-week event,

The Kumbh Mela happens every 12 years at Sangam, the confluence of three sacred rivers - the Ganges (Ganga), Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. Hindus believe that bathing in the sacred waters will cleanse them of sins and help them attain salvation.

A tragic stampede at the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India has left several people dead and many others injured.

Police said 30 people were killed in the crush at the world's biggest gathering of humanity and 90 were injured, but sources told Reuters the death toll was nearly 40. Some witnesses spoke of a huge push towards the rivers that caused devotees to fall on each other,