NEW DELHI: The stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night left 18 people dead and several others injured, exposing critical lapses in crowd management and railway announcements.
The Delhi Police, after its initial probe, pointed to a major miscommunication as the root cause of the disaster—two trains with nearly identical names, both bound for Prayagraj, led to chaos among thousands of Maha Kumbh devotees.
According to senior police officers, an announcement for the arrival of the Prayagraj Special at Platform 16 created mass confusion among passengers waiting for the Prayagraj Express at Platform 14. In the rush to board what they assumed was their train, a large section of the crowd surged towards Platform 16, triggering a deadly crush.
"There were already four trains scheduled to depart for Prayagraj that night, and three of them were delayed. This caused extreme overcrowding. The announcement further fueled panic, as many passengers believed they had missed their original train and rushed in the wrong direction,” said a senior police officer.
The stampede erupted around 10 pm when thousands of passengers, predominantly Maha Kumbh devotees, were crammed onto platforms 14 and 15. Witnesses described scenes of horror as people were trampled in the chaos, with children and elderly passengers among the worst affected.
Following the tragedy, Delhi Police launched an inquiry into the incident, with a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP)-rank officer leading the inquiry. To manage the situation, six additional police companies were deployed by the Police Headquarters (PHQ).
At least 18 people—including nine women, four men and four children—were killed and more than a dozen injured in a deadly stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night.
Sources told TNIE that 15 victims were declared dead at the LNJP Hospital, while three others were confirmed dead at the Lady Hardinge Medical College Hospital. "A total of 15 people, including 3 children have died while 10 others are still receiving treatment," an official at the LNJP hospital said.
The government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families of the deceased, Rs 2.5 lakh for those seriously injured, and Rs 1 lakh for others who sustained injuries.
The deceased were identified as Asha Devi (79),, a resident of Buxure, Pinky Devi (41), a resident of Delhi's Sangam Vihar Delhi, Sheela Devi (50), a resident of city's Sarita Vihar, Vyom (25), a resident of Bawana, Poonam Devi (40), a native of Saran in Bihar, Lalita Devi (35) of Parna, Bihar, Suruchi (11), a resident of Muzaffarpur, Krishna Devi (40) and Vijay (15), both natives of Samastipur of Bihar, Neeraj (12), a child hailing from Vaishali in Bihar, Shanti Devi (40) and Pooja Kumar (8), both from Nawada in Bihar, Sangeeta Malik (34) from Bhiwani in Haryana, Poonam (34), Mamta Jha (40), Riya Singh (7), Baby Kumari (24) and Manoj (47), all residents of Delhi.
