NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Sunday revealed that confusion over comparable prepare names and a number of delays contributed to the lethal stampede at New Delhi Railway Station, which claimed 18 lives.
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In accordance with officers, the chaos started when an announcement was made for the arrival of the Prayagraj Particular at Platform 16. This led many passengers, who had been alleged to board the Prayagraj Specific at Platform 14, to mistakenly rush in direction of Platform 16, leading to an enormous surge of individuals.
“The announcement of the Prayagraj particular arriving at Platform 16 led to confusion as a result of the Prayagraj Specific was already at Platform 14. Individuals who could not attain to their prepare at Platform 14 thought their prepare was arriving at Platform 16 resulting in the stampede. Moreover, there have been 4 trains heading to Prayagraj, out of which 3 had been delayed, inflicting sudden overcrowding,” Delhi Police mentioned in a press release.
Prepare placement throughout stampede
Passengers described absolute mayhem on the station, with a sudden prepare platform change announcement including to the panic.
“I’ve by no means seen such an enormous crowd on the railway station, not even throughout festivals. Officers had been current, however as soon as the gang exceeded a sure restrict, it grew to become inconceivable to manage,” he mentioned.
The stampede occurred round 10pm as 1000’s of passengers jostled to board trains certain for Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh. The chaos intensified resulting from delays in two scheduled trains and the push for a particular specific service, resulting in overcrowding on a number of platforms.
The Ministry of Railways has known as the incident “unlucky” and has arrange a two-member high-level committee to probe the reason for the tragedy and advocate preventive measures.
(With inputs from businesses)