Maha Kumbh stampede: From hospitals to thanas, kin look for the missing

PRAYAGRAJ: Inside the old mortuary of MLN Medical College in Prayagraj, a 62-year-old sadhu from Juna Akhara stood still among the lifeless remnants of Maha Kumbh stampede. Thirty lives were lost on Jan 29, and among them, perhaps his fellow seer Binda Ram.
Raj Kumar Giri emerged moments later, his search unfinished. He moved towards the new mortuary at SRN Hospital. If not alive, then at least in death, he would find him. "I visit both these mortuaries every day," Giri said Saturday, holding a picture of Binda Ram. The missing seer had travelled to Kumbh in a group of seven devotees from Nepal. All but him have returned safely to their country.
Across Prayagraj, families wandered through hospitals, police stations, and lost-and-found centres. They searched for closure, for a miracle, for the ones they had lost to the tide of humanity.
Parul Sarkar, 55, had come from Uttarakhand's Rudrapur with a group of 50. She got separated during the stampede. Since then, there has been no trace of her. "We have searched every police station, hospital, and even the mortuary, but there is no information about her. The authorities are not providing any updates," said her sister-in-law Laxmi Bairagi.
The ache of the missing remained deeply personal. Ganpati Kumar from Samastipur had spent three days searching for his sister Ukha Devi, 40. Nathuram of Jhansi wandered through the city looking for his wife Saraswati, 55.
Families have turned to every resource at their disposal. Posters bearing names, hastily scrawled phone numbers, and last-seen details plastered on walls. Some promised rewards, as if grief could be bargained with.
(Inputs from Aakash Ahuja in Rudrapur)