Security personnel stand guard at the New Delhi Railway Station, in New Delhi, on February 16, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Railways has formed a two-member high-level administrative grade committee to investigate the stampede that occurred on Saturday night (February 15, 2025) at New Delhi Railway Station, officials in the Ministry of Railways said on Sunday (February 16, 2025). The committee of Northern Railways’ Principal Chief Commercial Manager Narsingh Deo and Principal Chief Security Commissioner Pankaj Gangwar will investigate the stampede that claimed 18 lives, including four children and a septuagenarian woman.
Sources in the Railways told The Hindu that despite repeated attempts to make the railway officials understand that information about the deceased should be shared in a swift and transparent manner, the Railways tried to keep the news of deaths under wraps on Saturday.
“There were contradictory responses issued by the Railways officials, with an official spokesperson in the Railways Ministry saying that the injured were rushed to the hospital, but CPRO Northern Railways Himanshu Upadhyay initially maintaining that ‘stampede news was a rumour’, until later when Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena said on X that he condoled the deaths,” the official said.
At about 12.24 a.m. on Sunday, Mr. Saxena’s statement on X was edited to remove the mention of deaths. By this time, Chief Casualty Medical Officer at LNJP Hospital had confirmed the deaths. However, at 12.30 a.m., the Press Information Bureau (PIB) officials of Railways still maintained that ‘individuals had fainted’, and refrained from mentioning casualties. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who was the first to post a condolence message on X at 12.16 a.m. stuck to the fact that deaths had occurred in the stampede. He stated, “I am extremely pained by the loss of lives due to stampede on Railway Platform…”
No confirmation of deaths
The earliest statement by Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on X at 12.53 a.m. stated that “Injured were taken to hospital…”. While the Railways still did not confirm that there were deaths, at 12.56 a.m., Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X to say, “Distressed by the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones…” This was followed by condolence messages on X by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Mr. Vaishnaw, Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
It took about 20 hours since the tragedy for the Railways to officially confirm the death toll. Despite repeated requests, the Ministry of Railways did not issue a comprehensive official statement until 6.45 p.m. on Sunday.
The Railways accepted in the official statement that there had been a stampede in which 18 persons died and 15 others were injured. The incident occurred between 9.15 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. when there was a swelling of crowds at the station to board Prayagraj Express slated to arrive at 10.10 p.m. on platform 14. Another special train for Kumbh Mela, 04404 Subedaarganj Special which was Prayagraj-bound, was slotted for arrival on platform 12.
“A confusion arose among passengers waiting for Prayagraj Express on platform 14 as they thought that the train had been shifted to platform 12. There was a sudden movement of crowds towards the steps leading to the foot-over bridge and towards platform 12, which led to passengers toppling over each other and some of them dying,” Railway sources said.
Ex gratia given before official statement
Sources told The Hindu that the Railways quickly flung into action and started distributing ex gratia compensation in cash, ₹10 lakh each to the kin of the 18 people dead, since 4 a.m. on Sunday even before announcing the compensation amount in the official statement.
Of the deceased, 14 were female, including three girls aged seven, eight and fifteen, a woman aged 24, nine aged 35-45 years and an elderly woman of 70 years. The male victims include a 12-year-old boy, a 25-year-old man and two men aged 45 years and 47 years.
Three grievously injured people were given ₹2.5 lakh each, while 12 others with simple injuries received ₹1 lakh each.
Among the injured, many suffered from blunt trauma to their thighs, knees, ankles, shoulders, hips, chest and face. One reportedly had a wound in his lower abdomen.
2,600 more tickets sold
In the evening between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., usually 5,000 tickets are sold for unreserved seats. However, an excess of 2,600 tickets was recorded as sold on Saturday. “There was clearly overcrowding, and each platform can hold between 2,000-3000 passengers. But there were way more passengers during that time leading to congestion,” sources said.
On Saturday, a total of 339 trains carrying 14.76 lakh passengers had left for Prayagraj.
Later, on Sunday evening, the Railways in a statement said that special trains from New Delhi to Prayagraj will depart from platform 16 and that passengers can use the Ajmeri gate at the station for entry and exit. Additional Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police force has been deployed to manage peak rush.
The Railways operated four special trains on Sunday and five more are scheduled for Monday to facilitate devotees travelling to Mahakumbh, the statement mentioned. “All travellers are requested to not change platforms on hearsay and strictly follow official announcement,” the statement said, adding that Railway helpline 139 could be reached for any clarifications on trains.
Published – February 16, 2025 09:43 pm IST