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.

The fire was reported in Sector-22 of the Maha Kumbh district near Chatnag Ghat. The devotees are reported safe and evacuated from the site of the fire.

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