New Delhi station stampede death toll rises to 18

New Delhi — The death toll in a stampede at the main railway station in India's capital New Delhi rose to at least 18, including five children, media reports said on Sunday, citing the Press Trust of India news agency.

Most of the dead were women, while the youngest of the victims was seven years old and the oldest 79, according to media outlets.

Atishi, the chief minister of the national capital territory and who goes by only one name, said on X that many of the victims were pilgrims who were on their way to the Hindu Maha Kumbh festival. She said earlier that 15 people had died.

More than a dozen of the injured were being treated in hospital, media reports said.

The stampede occurred on Saturday afternoon on two platforms where passengers were waiting to board trains to Prayagraj city and the festival. Media showed videos of crowds of people falling over each other after the incident, as police and relief teams worked to try to ease the congestion.

“There was a sea of humanity at the railway station, and the crowd surged towards the train going to Prayagraj,” a distraught woman told the India Today news channel. “I lost my belongings and barely survived.”

Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said there would be an inquiry into the incident.

Dozens of people were killed in a predawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh in northern India last month as tens of millions of Hindus gathered to take a dip in sacred river on the most auspicious day of the six-week festival. India has witnessed several stampedes, most of which occurred at religious festivals or gatherings.

Delhi’s lieutenant-governor, Vinai Kumar Saxena, visited some of the injured in hospital.

“This is a very tragic incident and we pray for those who have lost their lives,” Atishi said.

Reuters