Confusion over the names of trains may have led to the deadly stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night (February 16), according to local authorities.
At least 18 people died in the tragic crowd crush, with dozens reported injured. A massive crowd had gathered at the station as people scrambled to reach Prayagraj to attend the ongoing Maha Kumbh festival.
According to police, two trains having ‘Prayagraj’ in their names arrived at the station Saturday night. As announcement for the respective trains were made, it led to confusion among travellers.
One train, named Prayagraj Express, had already arrived at platform number 14 when the announcement for the other train, named Prayagraj Special, was made for platform 16.
Some passengers of the Prayagraj Express then thought their train was arriving at platform 16, leading to confusion and massive crowd crush.
The situation worsened because two out of four trains scheduled to depart for Prayagraj were delayed, leading to overcrowding from platforms 12 to 16.
Earlier, passengers were quoted by local media as saying that railways officials changed the platforms at the last minute, a claim rejected by the Northern Railways.
Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Northern Railways, later claimed the stampede occurred after a passenger fell on the footover bridge between platforms 14 and 15, causing others behind him to stumble.
The CPRO initially refuted reports of stampede, dismissing them as rumours.
Later, he claimed that the situation was under control and trains were running smoothly.
Delhi Police Sunday said they have launched a probe into the incident and its officials were examining CCTV footage to ascertain what led to the chaos.
Among the dead, nine are women, five children and four men.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said a “high-level inquiry” had been formed to investigate the causes of the accident.
Reacting to the incident, Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, said on X: “My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery. The authorities are assisting all those who have been affected by this stampede.”
The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, said he was “extremely pained by the loss of lives due to stampede” at the Delhi railway station.
Kumbh festival, the largest religious gathering in the world, attracts millions of devotees.
(With inputs from agencies)
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New Delhi railway station stampede: Two trains with similar names led to confusion, cops claim
