A narrow stairway with 42 steps leading to a 25-foot-wide foot over bridge at the New Delhi railway station turned into a scene of panic and chaos when a stampede left 18 people dead and more than a dozen injured.
New Delhi: A narrow stairway with 42 steps leading to a 25-foot-wide foot over bridge at the New Delhi railway station turned into a scene of panic and chaos when a stampede left 18 people dead and more than a dozen injured.
Scattered slippers, torn bags, and abandoned belongings lay strewn across the staircase, the bridge, and platforms 14 and 15 silent witnesses to the tragedy that unfolded on Saturday night.
The disaster struck at 9:55 pm on Saturday, when thousands of passengers, many of them Maha Kumbh pilgrims, crowded the station. A mix-up in train announcements set off a chain reaction of confusion and panic, according to eyewitnesses.
The Delhi Police said the confusion happened because of the announcement of the trains having the same initial name starting with 'Prayagraj'.
“The announcement of the Prayagraj Special arriving at platform 16 led to confusion because the Prayagraj Express was already at platform 14. People who couldn't reach their train at platform 14 thought their train was arriving at platform 16 leading to the stampede.
“Additionally, there were four trains heading to Prayagraj, out of which three were delayed, causing unexpected overcrowding,” a police official said.
Two other trains, the Swatantrata Senani Express and the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express, were already delayed, leaving platforms 13, 14, and 15 packed with restless travellers. Then came an announcement that a special train to Prayagraj would depart from platform 16.
