he Delhi Police’s initial investigation into the stampede at the New Delhi railway station on Saturday points to a major miscommunication as the root cause of the tragedy-two trains with nearly identical names, both bound for Prayagraj, led to chaos among thousands of Maha Kumbh devotees. The Delhi police found in its initial investigation the deadly stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station happened as passengers got confused between ‘Prayagraj Express and Prayagraj Special’, and thought they might miss their train.
According to preliminary investigation, the confusion happened because of the announcement of the trains having the same initial name ‘Prayagraj’. 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.
The Delhi police probe team are also scanning the CCTV footages to get a significant lead connecting the dots of the tragic incident before the chaos erupted.
“The announcement of the ‘Prayagraj Special’ arriving at Platform 16 led to confusion among the waiting passengers because the Prayagraj Express was already at Platform 14. Passengers who couldn’t reach their train at platform 14 thought it was arriving at platform 16. The last-minute panic and movement of the people burdened with heavy luggage from one platform to another led to the stampede, police said.
Additionally, there were four trains heading to Prayagraj, out of which three were delayed, causing an unexpected overcrowding, said the police source.
Following the tragedy, Delhi Police launched an inquiry into the incident, with a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP)-rank officer leading the inquiry. To manage the situation, six additional police companies were deployed by the Police Headquarters (PHQ). On Sunday, Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora held a meeting at the office of DCP Railways at New Delhi Railway Station. Among other things, the officials investigated the loopholes in the public address system at the railway station. The meeting was also attended by Special Commissioners Robin Hibu and Ravindra Yadav.
A witness also said “There was confusion among the passengers regarding the train names and the change of platforms of the trains, which ultimately led to the tragedy.”
The Delhi Police’s statement came after the Northern Railways said no platforms were changed, and a passenger fell on the foot over bridge between platforms 14 and 15, causing others behind him to stumble, leading to the tragic incident.
According to the fire department, distress calls about a stampede on platforms 14 and 15 were received around 9:55 pm. Four fire tenders were rushed to the scene. The injured were taken to Lok Nayak Hospital.
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. 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 stampede on Saturday night left 18 people dead. It was preceded by a swell in crowd of passengers waiting to board trains for Prayagraj — where the Maha Kumbh is underway — on platform number 14 and 15 of the station. The deceased were identified as Asha Devi (79), a resident of Buxure, Pinky Devi (41), a resident of Delhi’s Sangam Vihar Delhi, Sheela Devi (50), a resident of city’s Sarita Vihar, Vyom (25), a resident of Bawana, Poonam Devi (40), a native of Saran in Bihar, Lalita Devi (35) of Parna, Bihar, Suruchi (11), a resident of Muzaffarpur, Krishna Devi (40) and Vijay (15), both natives of Samastipur of Bihar, Neeraj (12), a child hailing from Vaishali in Bihar, Shanti Devi (40) and Pooja Kumar (8), both from Nawada in Bihar, Sangeeta Malik (34) from Bhiwani in Haryana, Poonam (34), Mamta Jha (40), Riya Singh (7), Baby Kumari (24) and Manoj (47), all residents of Delhi.
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 foot over bridge towards platform numbers 14 and 15 using stairs slipped and fell on others,” he said, citing the cause of the stampede.
Sources said delays in train departures and the sale of 1,500 general tickets every hour may also have created a chaotic situation at the New Delhi Railway station.