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.

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.

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