Delhi stampede: What led to the tragedy? Witnesses, railways offer differing versions

According to railway officials, the situation is under control now, and the passengers have been sent by special trains to their destinations and the situation at the railway station is normal now and trains are running on time.

Ten people were injured in the stampede, which seems to have occurred on platform numbers 14 and 15.

But what caused the stampede? There are differing versions about what really happened. The Federal gives the eyewitness accounts of people who were at the spot and the official version.

While the Railway administration has stressed that they were prepared to handle the extra crowds and put extra trains in place to handle the weekend crowd headed to Prayagraj and other parts of the country, eyewitnesses said there were no police personnel to handle the crowds getting out of control.

The delays in train departures led to unprecedented crowding on a few platforms which then led to panic and people suffocating and fainting. As they fell, people trampled over them.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the railway ministry blamed the stampede on the "sudden surge" in passengers, which triggered panic and led to passengers fainting. It was an “unprecedented rush situation,” said the statement.

When the stampede broke out around 9 pm, the situation was so bad that no one was able to help anyone else, said eye-witnesses. It all happened so fast, they said. People were just trying to pull out those who were crushed under the crowd, said coolies at the railway station, who had rushed to help. The coolies said that people had gathered in huge numbers at platform numbers 12, 13, 14 and 15 leaving no room for anyone to move.

One eyewitness said there was no one to control the crowds after the announcement that a train coming on platform number 12 would arrive on platform number 16. This caused a lot of chaos and panic. However, the railways denies this.

Meanwhile, an Indian air force sergeant told ANI that people failed to listen to the administration and despite warnings and announcements that people should not to gather in large numbers. Returning after his duty at the tri-service office at the railway station, he saw a huge crowd and tried to convince people and also made announcements, appealing to avoid gathering on the platform in large numbers.

According to him, the administration was working hard to prevent any mishap, but no one was listening. The crowd became unmanageable after a while.

Another eyewitness said that he had not seen such "massive crowds" at the railway station before even during festivals. However, he said the people from the administration and even NDRF personnel were there but they were unable to control the crowds, he said.

According to other reports, the arrival of the Magadh Express on platform 15 before its scheduled departure led to a scramble to enter the train. Several people even crossed the tracks and jumped into different coaches, and others on the platform too rushed to board inside the train, which led to the stampede.

Another pilgrim on her way to Prayagraj told India Today TV that the stampede happened on the staircase at platform number 14. With all the pushing and shoving many people fell on the ground and got crushed. Though people had reserved tickets they could not board the trains that were bursting at the seams. Some people crossed the railway track and tried to board the train from the wrong side, which added to the confusion, the pilgrim added.

Others said it was the delays in train departures that really aggravated the situation and contributed to the overwhelming crowd.

In a statement, the railway ministry blamed the stampede on the sudden surge in passengers, which triggered panic and led to passengers fainting. It was an “unprecedented rush situation.”

Chief Public Relations Officer of Northern Railway, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, said, "When this tragic incident took place yesterday, at that time, Magadh Express going towards Patna was standing on platform number 14 of New Delhi Railway Station, and Uttar Sampark Kranti going towards Jammu was standing on platform number 15."

Further, he added, "At this time, a passenger coming towards platforms 14-15 slipped and fell on the stairs, and many passengers standing behind him were hit, and this tragic incident took place. This is being investigated by a high-level committee." According to the PRO, no trains have been cancelled, nor was there any change in platform...

"The incident is being investigated, so let the committee submit their report and findings. The situation at the platform is normal now. All trains are running at their usual time..,” he said.

According to reports, some railways officials said a crowd kept building up at platform number 14, from where they were waiting to board the Prayagraj Express to go to the Maha Kumbh mela. Meanwhile, since two other Prayagraj-bound trains, the Swatantrata Senani Express and the Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani were delayed, there were passengers waiting for those trains as well.

Therefore, these passengers were also present at platform no. 12, 13 and 14. “That’s why the crowd became uncontrollable,” KPS Malhotra, DCP (Railways) told the media. He suggested that there were two stampedes: “one at platform number 14 and another close the escalator near platform number 16”.

Officials also said that two staircases of Platform 14 and 15 were shut off for railway officials to control the crowd. However, as trains got delayed, more passengers appeared on the staircases with people pushing each other to either move towards the train or towards the staircase. This pushing led to people suffocating and fainting.

KPS Malhotra, said that while the authorities had anticipated a large crowd, the incident happened very quickly in a few moments. "The fact-finding will be done by the Railways. After inquiry, we will get to know the reason behind the incident," he told ANI.

Dilip Kumar, Executive Director of Information & Publicity (ED/IP), Railway Board said that the station was experiencing an unusually high volume of passengers, prompting the railways to operate four additional special trains to manage the crowd. To regain control of the situation, entry to the railway station was temporarily blocked.