As the mega congregation at Maha Kumbh is on its last leg, yet another tragedy on Saturday night stuck the pilgrims at New Delhi Railway Station, where 18 people bound for the holy dip at Triveni Sangam lost their lives in a horrific manner.

Amidst the religious fervour lasting almost two months, the loss of lives has touched almost 100 including 39 dead (official toll) during stampede at Maha Kumbh Nagar and about 40 lives fatality on the roads bound to Prayagraj.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers condoled the loss of lives in the stampede. “Deeply anguished to know about the loss of lives in a stampede at New Delhi railway station. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and pray for speedy recovery of those injured,” President Murmu said in a social media post. The prime minister said he was distressed by the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station.

As conflicting details continued to emerge around stampede from the railways, police, general public and political parties, Home Minister Amit Shah “summoned” Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Chairman Railway Board Satish Kumar.

Following the meeting, sources said that Shah directed the Railways to conduct probe. The Delhi Police has been doing its own investigation into the stampede. The railways committee instituted commenced inquiry and secured all video footage of the New Delhi Railway Station.

Some blamed authorities’ mismanagement and a sudden change in platform, while many faulted India’s population, lack of travel etiquette and misunderstanding railway announcements for the New Delhi station stampede.

Delhi Police has put out a list of the 18 deceased and launched an investigation into the stampede, which happened due to confusion because of the announcement of the trains having the same initial name starting with ‘Prayagraj’.

“Our target is to investigate the main cause, which caused the stampede. We will collect all data of CCTV footage and announcements done during that time,” a police source said.

Sources said delays in train departures and the sale of around 8,000 general tickets created a chaotic situation at the station and for worst an announcement about change of platforms of certain trains led to confusion amongst travellers in the over-crowded platforms, leading to the stampede.

A compensation of `10 lakh each was granted by the railways for the next of kin of those killed in the stampede. Those seriously injured will get `2.5 lakh and those with minor injuries 1 lakh, the railway said.

The stampede occurred around 9:55 pm on Saturday night when thousands of passengers, mostly Maha Kumbh pilgrims, crowded the station to board trains to Prayagraj. The Prayagraj Express was stationed at platform 14, while the Swatantrata Senani Express and Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express were delayed, causing an overwhelming surge of people on platforms 12, 13, and 14.

The situation worsened when a last-minute platform change was announced. Confused and panicked, passengers rushed towards platform 16, where an escalator became a deadly choke point, according to sources.

Security personnel tried to intervene, but the crowd was too large to control. Some passengers attempted to climb the railings to escape, while others were crushed underfoot, the sources said. When the chaos subsided, 18 people including 11 women and five children, had lost their lives.

More than a dozen people 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 number 14 and 15 of the station.

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. “Some people who were coming down from the footover bridge towards platform numbers 14 and 15 using stairs slipped and fell on others,” he said, citing the cause of the stampede.

A railway staffer, who had spent hours clearing the personal belongings of passengers caught in the stampede, described the scene as “one of the worst” he had witnessed.

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.

“A train to Prayagraj (Prayagraj Express) was already at platform 14. When the announcement about the special train was made, many passengers assumed it was their regular train and rushed towards platform 16,” said an eyewitness.

The only way to platform 16 was via the 42-step stairway leading to a 25-foot-wide foot over bridge. As thousands surged forward, the stairway became dangerously overcrowded. Those climbing up were blocked by those trying to descend, creating a human bottleneck.

The force of the crowd was unbearable. People were trapped, unable to move. Some lost their footing and fell, dragging others down with them, an eyewitness said.

Tragic Stampedes

January 29, 2025: 30 killed at Maha Kumbh

March 2023: 36 died during a Ram Navmi ‘havan’

July 2, 2022: 121 killed on Hathras ‘satsang’

January 1, 2022: 12 died at Vaishno Devi shrine on

September 29, 2017: 23 lost their lives at Elphinstone Road station Mumbai on

July 14, 2015: 27 pilgrims died at ‘Pushkaram’ festival in Andhra Pradesh

October 3, 2014: 32 killed at Gandhi Maidan Patna after Dussehra celebrations

October 13, 2013: 115 killed during Navratri near Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh

November 19, 2012: 20 killed at Chhath Puja stampede in Patna

November 8, 2011: 20 killed in Har-ki-Pauri ghat Haridwar

January 14, 2011: 104 Sabarimala devotees killed in Kerala’s Idukki district

March 4, 2010: 63 killed at Ram Janki Temple of Kripalu Maharaj in Pratapgarh UP

2008: 250 killed at Rajasthan’s Chamunda Devi temple.

2008: 162 killed at Naina Devi temple

2005: 340 killed at Maharashtra’s Mandhardevi

August 27, 2003: 39 killed at Naishik Kumbh