Special train was announced for Kumbh, real reason of stampede at NDLS came to light

New Delhi. At least 18 people lost their lives and dozens of others were injured in a stampede-like incident at New Delhi Railway Station late Saturday night. The injured were admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital and Lady Harding Medical College for treatment. Those who lost their lives in the stampede include 9 women, 4 men, 5 children. A huge crowd of passengers going to Prayagraj Maha Kumbh started gathering at New Delhi Railway Station since evening, yet the administration did not take care of timely arrangements and crowd management.

How did the stampede happen?
According to the preliminary investigation report of the accident and sources related to the case, the Railways announced a special train for Kumbh, due to which a stampede occurred. When the Railways saw heavy sale of tickets, it decided to run a special train, but there were not enough arrangements to handle the crowd.

A train going to Prayagraj Kumbh was being awaited on platform number 14. There was already a huge crowd there, and other passengers were also trying to reach there.

Meanwhile, the railways suddenly announced a special train from platform number 16. The passengers who were already trying to go to platform 14 now ran towards platform 16 as well, causing chaos. The crowd became uncontrollable, and people started falling on each other. This caused the stampede.

The report also stated that the deployment of Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel was not balanced, due to which there were difficulties in controlling the crowd and the situation worsened.

Many eyewitnesses told Aaj Tak that there was a lot of crowd on all the platforms of the station, but the situation was worse on platform numbers 12, 13, 14 and 15. According to eyewitnesses, the stampede situation arose due to the frequent announcement of changing platform numbers by the Railways regarding the stoppage of trains. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Railway, KPS Malhotra said that Prayagraj Express was standing on platform number 14. A huge crowd of passengers was present on the platform to catch this train. Swatantrata Senani Express and Bhubaneswar Rajdhani were running late. Passengers of these trains were also present on platform numbers 12, 13 and 14.

1500 general tickets sold every hour at NDLS
DCP Malhotra said, ‘We expected a crowd, but all this happened in a few seconds. The incident will be investigated by the Railways, after questioning the responsible employees and officials we will know the real reason behind the incident. According to the information, the Railways sold 1500 general tickets every hour at New Delhi station. This is the reason why the crowd went out of control. There was a stampede-like situation near the escalators of platform number 14 and platform number 16.’ The Indian Railways dismissed the stampede reports as a rumour and described the situation at the New Delhi Railway Station as a ‘stampede-like situation’. However, the Railways later confirmed that an unknown number of people were injured and were taken to hospital. The deaths were confirmed by LNJP Hospital, where the injured were taken for treatment.

Ajeet, a sergeant in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and an eyewitness to the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station, said, “There is a joint office of the three armies of India at the railway station. When I was returning after my duty, I could not reach the office because there was a huge crowd there. I tried to convince people and also appealed to them to avoid gathering on the platform in large numbers. The administration was working hard to prevent any accident, but no one was listening. I helped the injured people with the help of one of my friends.”

The stampede happened on the stairs, not on the platforms
An eyewitness who lost his mother in the incident at New Delhi Railway Station said that the stampede started on the stairs leading to the platforms, not on the platforms. The eyewitness said, “I was going to Chhapra with my family. We were coming down the stairs and the platform in front of us looked normal. There was no sign of any kind of chaos. Suddenly, a crowd swelled on the stairs and a large number of people started coming down. My mother and several women fell, while others trampled them.’ Other eyewitnesses said that many passengers had reached the platform without tickets to board trains going to Prayagraj Mahakumbh.

How did people without tickets reach the platform?
Many eyewitnesses complained that they had confirmed tickets, but they could not get on the train. People without tickets or with general tickets had crowded the doors of the train. In the crowd, the belongings of many passengers were also stolen. Leave aside general and sleeper, there was no place to even put feet in AC coaches. Passengers who had confirmed tickets also got down, as it was suffocating due to heavy crowd inside the coach. To reduce the crowd, the railways ran special trains from 12.30 pm. Many people did not have tickets. He said that they entered the platform. They wanted to buy tickets, but tickets were not available in most trains.

Is the chaos of the railways responsible for the stampede?
A woman who had secured a seat in a special train but did not have a ticket said that she would buy the ticket when the TT would come. She blamed the crowd for not being able to get the ticket. Many other people sitting in the special trains also said the same thing. Many passengers boarded the train with the hope that they would buy the ticket from the TT. They had entered the station premises without platform tickets, as there was no one to enquire or check the tickets at the entry points. Everyone said that they entered with the crowd and no one stopped or checked them. It is clear from this that the chaos and negligence of the railway administration was responsible for the stampede at New Delhi station.