New Delhi stampede: Railways inquiry says 20 died, confusing announcements caused rush

An inquiry by the railways has said that 20 people were killed in the stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station on February 15. It further said that the rush was caused by two announcements made for the same train within a short period of time.

The inquiry by the Railway Protection Force (RPF), a copy of which is with Firstpost, said that an announcement at 8:45 pm said that Kumbh Special train going to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh was going to arrive at platform 12. Shortly after that announcement, another announcement was made that the train was going to arrive at platform 16. The inquirty said that these two announcements led to a sprint among passengers that caused the stampede.

The Maha Kumbh, a Hindu festival that's organised once in 144 years and is hailed as the largest cultural gathering in the world, is being organised in UP's Prayagraj. Previously, at least 30 people were killed in a stampede at the site of Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj on January 29.

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Confusing announcements caused stampede, suggests inquiry

The inquiry conducted by the RPF suggests that confusing announcements made by the station staff caused the stampede.

The inquiry in Hindi, signed off by the RPF in-charge at New Delhi Railway Station, says that there was overcrowding at the station in the run-up to the disaster.

After train number 12560 Shivganga Express left the station from platform 12, there was a sudden overcrowding that choked foot over bridges (FOB) 2 and 3 and caused a jam at platforms 12, 12, 14, 15, and 16, according to the inquiry.

Officials arrived at the scene and, after assessing the situation, requested the station director to not sell tickets, as per the inquiry.

All personnel, including off-duty personnel, were deployed to the affected platforms and FOBs to maange the crowd and the station director was asked to pass the special train at once, as per the inquiry.

The RPF in-charge along with RPF personnel reached the FOB 2 and other personnel reached FOB 3 and sought to clear those areas, as per the inquiry.

It is around this time that two confusing announcements were made that caused a sprint among people that caused casualties, according to the inquiry.

2 announcements within 3 minutes caused stampede, suggests inquiry

Even as RPF personnel were managing the crowd at FOBs 2 and 3 amid overcrowding at platforms 12, 12, 14, 15, and 16, two confusing announcements were made at the station that caused a sprint among passengers and caused the casualties, according to the inquiry.

The RPF report says that an announcement was made at 8:45 pm that Kumbh Special train going to Prayagraj was arriving at platform 12 but, within a short duration, a second announcement was made that said the Kumbh Special train was arriving at platform 16.

The report says that this made people rush to platform 16 and this caused the stampede.

At the same time when people were rushing to platform 16, Magadh Express was on platform 14 and Uttar Sampark Kranti train was on platform 15, which were between platforms 12 and 16, according to the report.

Following the second announcement, people from platforms 12, 13, 14, and 15 began rushing to platform 16 by climbing FOBs 2 and 3 at the same time when people from Magadh Express, Uttar Sampark Kranti train, and Prayagraj Express were coming down the stairs and this led to shoving and some people falling who were them stomped over by people rushing in both directions, according to the report.

The report says the stampede was reported by the RPF staff at 8:48 pm, suggesting those two announcements that caused the stampede-causing sprint were made within a span of three minutes.