India At least 18 dead in stampede at New Delhi railroad station
At least 18 people, including children, have died in a stampede at a train station in the Indian capital New Delhi. According to the Indian state railroad company, more than a dozen people were also injured. Due to the huge rush of travelers on their way to the world's largest pilgrimage festival Maha Kumbh Mela in the city of Prayagraj, about 670 kilometers away, the station was heavily overcrowded, said the spokesman of the responsible Northern Zone of the Indian Railways, Himanshu Upadhyay, to the public radio station All India Radio News. Indian media reported chaotic scenes at the station.
16.02.2025, 15:49
SDA
The accident on Saturday evening (local time) reportedly occurred when large crowds of people started moving from one platform to another. "In view of the crowds, we decided to run several special trains," said Upadhyay. Many travelers wanted to switch to another platform. On the stairs of a pedestrian overpass, people probably fell and fell on others, which led to the panic. The exact cause of the disaster is to be determined by a railroad commission of inquiry.
Prime Minister Modi expresses his "shock"
The Indian news agency PTI reported that five minors were among the victims. Eyewitnesses told the agency that several people had fainted in the dense crowd. PTI reported, citing unnamed sources, that delays in the departure of trains may have contributed to the chaotic conditions at the station. However, representatives of the railroads denied rumors that there had been sudden track changes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "shocked" by the stampede at the New Delhi railroad station "My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover quickly," Modi wrote on the X platform.
It was only at the end of January that at least 30 people died in a stampede during the pilgrimage festival in Prayagraj on the banks of the Ganges in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, according to reports at the time.
The six-week festival focuses on ritual ablutions at the point where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet the Saraswati river, which only exists in mythology. Mass panics occur time and again during India's major religious festivals.
