Crowds had swelled because trains carrying Hindu pilgrims to the Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious festival, had been delayed, according to local media.

At least 18 people died during a stampede at a railway station in India’s New Delhi late on Saturday when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to the Kumbh Mela, officials and reports said.

The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj, and has a history of crowd-related disasters — including one last month, when at least 30 people died in another stampede at the holy confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.