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India uses AI to stop stampedes at world's biggest gathering

Pilgrims arrive at Sangam, the confluence of Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers, to take part in Shahi Snan or 'royal bath', to mark the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj on January 14, 2025.[Photo, AFP]

Keen to improve India's abysmal crowd management record at large-scale religious events, organisers of the world's largest human gathering are using artificial intelligence to try to prevent stampedes.

Organisers predict up to 400 million pilgrims will visit the Kumbh Mela, a millennia-old sacred show of Hindu piety and ritual bathing that began on January 13 and runs for six weeks.

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