New Delhi railway station still crowded day after stampede leaves 18 dead

The New Delhi railway station remained crowded on Sunday afternoon, hours after a stampede there claimed 18 lives on Saturday.

A senior railway official said on Sunday that the incident occurred after some passengers slipped and fell on others while coming down from a foot over bridge.

More than a dozen people were also injured in the stampede on Saturday night at the railway station which witnessed a surge of passengers waiting to board trains for Prayagraj on platform numbers 14 and 15 of the station.

Northern Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Himanshu Upadhyay said that at the time of incident the Patna-bound Magadh Express was stationed at platform number 14 and the New Delhi-Jammu Uttar Sampark Kranti Express was stationed at platform number 15.

"Some people who were coming down from the foot over bridge towards platform numbers 14 and 15 using stairs slipped and fell on others," he said, citing the cause of the stampede.

Railways have announced the names of two high administrative group officials, who will be part of the inquiry committee constituted to probe the stampede.

Narsingh Deo, Principal Chief Commercial Manager, Northern Railway, and Pankaj Gangwar, Principal Chief Security Commissioner, Northern Railway, are the members of the committee, the railways said.

The committee, which has commenced it inquiry, gave orders to secure all video footage of the New Delhi Railway Station. The inquiry was ordered by the railways on Saturday after the stampede.

A compensation of Rs 10 lakh each has been announced by the railways for the next of kin of those killed in the stampede.

Those seriously injured will get Rs 2.5 lakh and those with minor injuries 1 lakh, the railway said.

Railway staff worked through the night to clear the platforms where a large number of shoes, torn bags and clothes were strewn around after the stampede.

The stampede occurred around 9.55 pm on Saturday when thousands of passengers, mostly Maha Kumbh pilgrims, crowded the station to board trains to Prayagraj.

The Prayagraj Express was stationed at platform 14, while the Swatantrata Senani Express and Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express were delayed, causing an overwhelming surge of people on platforms 12, 13, and 14.

The situation worsened when a last-minute platform change was announced. Confused and panicked, passengers rushed towards platform 16, where an escalator became a deadly choke point, according to sources.

Security personnel tried to intervene, but the crowd was too large to control. Some passengers attempted to climb the railings to escape, while others were crushed underfoot, sources said.

When the chaos subsided, 18 people -- 14 women and four children, including two under the age of 10 -- had lost their lives.

At the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital, grieving families gathered to identify their loved ones.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh condoled the loss of lives.

The deceased have been identified as Asha Devi (79), Pinky Devi (41), Sheela Devi (50), Vyom (25), Poonam Devi (40), Lalita Devi (35), Suruchi (11), Krishna Devi (40), Vijay Sah (15), Neeraj (12), Shanti Devi (40), Pooja Kumari (8), Sangeeta Malik (34), Poonam (34), Mamta Jha (40), Riya Singh (7), Baby Kumari (24) and Manoj (47). With PTI