18 Die After Stampede At New Delhi Train Station
At least 18 people have lost their lives in a stampede at New Delhi’s main train station on Saturday night.
The tragedy occurred around 8pm local time as thousands of passengers attempted to board a train bound for the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj, northern India.
Eye witnesses said the chaotic incident occurred after a last-minute change in train schedules, triggering panic among the huge crowd.
Local shopkeeper Nikhil Kumar said, “The crowd became uncontrollable, and no one could manage it,” India’s PTI news agency said.
Dharmendra Singh, who was also travelling to Prayagraj, said there were “far more people than I have ever seen at this station. In front of me, six or seven women were taken away on stretchers,” the local media reported.
India’s Deputy commissioner of Police (railways) KPS Malhotra, said that authorities were investigating what led to the incident.
“This happened due to a delay in two trains arriving and more people gathering at the station,” Malhotra said.
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in a post on X, expressed his condolences, saying he was “distressed by the stampede” and prayed for a speedy recovery for the injured.
Delhi’s caretaker chief minister, Atishi, reported 18 fatalities, including 10 women and four children. According to him, many of the victims were pilgrims heading to the Maha Kumbh festival.
“Their bodies were taken to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain Hospital”, he said.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the government has launched an official investigation into the incident.
The incident happened barely three weeks after 30 people died in a stampede at the Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious gathering in the Indian city of Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
The six-week festival, which is held every 12 years, drew millions of Hindu devotees seeking to bathe in the sacred confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.
However, disaster struck when some holy men led the crowd of worshippers in a ritual to cleanse their sins. As the crowd pushed forward, many individuals were knocked down and crushed to death.
18 Die After Stampede At New Delhi Train Station is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
