As the national capital deals with the tragic stampede that occurred at the New Delhi Railway Station late on Saturday night, leaving at least 18 dead and several injured, a massive crowd was seen flocking to platform 8 of the Railway station, a day after the incident. The platform was jam-packed with passengers even before the arrival of the Shramjeevi Express train which was going from New Delhi to Rajgir.
RPF personnel struggled to control and manage the crowd as people tried to enter the train by climbing over each other. Ground reports suggested that RPF personnel resorted to stringent measures to manage the crowd.
Several trains were cancelled in view of the deadly stampede, out of which seven were enroute to Prayagraj where the Mahakumbh is taking place.
The Railways has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each for the next of kin of those killed in the stampede. Those seriously injured will receive Rs 2.5 lakh and those with minor injuries will get 1 lakh, the Railways said.
More than a dozen persons 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, where the Maha Kumbh is underway, on platform numbers 14 and 15.
Northern Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Himanshu Upadhyay said that at the time of incident the Patna-bound Magadh Express was standing at platform number 14 and the New Delhi-Jammu Uttar Sampark Kranti Express was stationed at platform number 15.
While some sources said delays in train departures and the sale of 1,500 general tickets every hour may have created a chaotic situation at the station, other sources indicated that wrong announcement about change of platforms may have created confusion that led to the stampede.
(With inputs from PTI)