Stampede in Delhi railway station, 18 dead, dozens injured, probe ordered

Guwahati, Feb 16: A stampede at New Delhi Railway Station late on Saturday night resulted in the loss of at least 18 lives and left over a dozen injured, as thousands of devotees rushed to board trains to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh festival.

The disaster unfolded on platform numbers 13 and 14 around 10 PM, following the sudden cancellation of two key trains, which led to severe overcrowding and panic among passengers.

According to officials at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, 11 injured victims were admitted for treatment, while rescue teams worked overnight to manage the situation.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), railway authorities, and emergency responders were deployed to control the situation, but eyewitnesses described the scene as one of sheer horror and chaos.

A passenger stated, "I was on the platform waiting for my train when suddenly I heard loud screams. People were rushing towards the exit, and before I could react, there was pushing and shoving. I saw people falling, screaming, and crying for help—it was a nightmare."

An Indian Air Force (IAF) sergeant, present at the scene, attempted to warn the crowd to disperse. "Despite multiple announcements urging people not to gather in large numbers, the crowd remained unmanageable. The administration was trying to control the situation, but no one was listening. My friend and I helped some injured passengers, but it was overwhelming", he stated.

Many of the victims were Maha Kumbh devotees traveling with their families. A grieving man recounted the horror, “We were a group of 12 traveling to the Maha Kumbh. My sister was caught in the crowd at the stairs. We searched for her for half an hour, only to find that she had died in the crush.”

The exact cause of the stampede is still under investigation, but preliminary reports suggested that train cancellations and overcrowding triggered the incident.

DCP Railway KPS Malhotra acknowledged that while authorities had anticipated a large crowd, the rapid escalation of events led to an unmanageable situation. "We expected the crowd, but things escalated within moments. The investigation will be conducted by the Railways, and the exact cause of the stampede will be determined after a thorough inquiry," Malhotra said.

The Railway Board announced the formation of a two-member high-level committee to investigate the tragedy and determine accountability. Executive Director of Information & Publicity, Dilip Kumar, stated that additional trains had been arranged to accommodate the high volume of passengers.

"To manage the situation, we operated four more special trains. Entry to the railway station was briefly blocked to control the crowd, and normal train services have now resumed," Kumar said.

With inputs from news agencies