Railway Staff clears Shoes, torn bags, clothes and abandoned food after stampede kills 18 in Delhi
New Delhi Railway Station Stampede: Tragic Night Leaves 18 Dead, Survivors Grieving
In a devastating turn of events, a massive stampede at New Delhi Railway Station late on Saturday night claimed the lives of at least 18 people, leaving behind a trail of destruction and despair. The railway station, one of the busiest in the country, turned into a chaotic scene as thousands of passengers, primarily pilgrims traveling to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh, flooded the platforms in a desperate rush to board their trains.
As the tragedy unfolded, railway staff worked tirelessly through the night to clear the horrifying aftermath. Scattered belongings—shoes, torn bags, pieces of clothing, and abandoned food—were strewn across platforms 14 and 15, standing as painful reminders of the panic and confusion that gripped the passengers.
A Night of Chaos and Panic
The stampede erupted around 9:55 PM on Saturday, as large crowds of passengers gathered in overwhelming numbers to catch their respective trains. The Prayagraj Express was stationed at platform 14, while two other major trains, the Swatantrata Senani Express and the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express, were delayed, causing congestion across platforms 12, 13, and 14.
What started as an already overcrowded situation turned into complete pandemonium when a last-minute platform change was announced. Confused and panicked passengers, already struggling to navigate through the throngs of people, rushed toward platform 16, unaware that their hurried movement would soon turn fatal.
With thousands trying to move at once, an escalator leading to the new platform became a choking point, trapping people in a suffocating mass. Security personnel tried to intervene and control the movement, but the crowd had already grown uncontrollable. Some passengers, desperate to escape the crush, attempted to climb railings, while others were pushed down and trampled underfoot.
The scene quickly became catastrophic, with people screaming for help, children being separated from their parents, and many individuals struggling to breathe. Witnesses later described the horrifying sounds of cries and the feeling of bodies pressing in from all sides, making movement impossible.
By the time the stampede was brought under control, 18 people had tragically lost their lives. Among the deceased were 14 women and five children, including two young boys under the age of 10. In addition to the fatalities, more than a dozen others sustained injuries, some of them critical.
As dawn broke on Sunday morning, railway staff and emergency workers began the grim task of clearing the platforms and recovering personal belongings. News agency PTI shared distressing footage of workers sweeping debris from the station’s roof, while police officers collected piles of unclaimed bags, shoes, and clothing in an effort to reunite them with survivors.
At the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, families of the missing gathered in heartbreaking desperation, hoping to find their loved ones. One grieving father, upon seeing a familiar blue backpack among the recovered belongings, collapsed in sorrow.“He was just 12… He was supposed to board the train with me,” the father sobbed, as hospital staff and bystanders tried to console him.
For many others, the search continued. A mother, still looking for her missing daughter, roamed the station in a daze, calling out her name. The eerie sight of school bags, slippers without their pairs, and half-eaten meals left behind painted a grim picture of the human toll the stampede had taken.
In response to the tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences, taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to share his grief.“Distressed by the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery.”
The government has announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh for the families of the deceased, acknowledging the severity of the disaster. Meanwhile, railway authorities have launched an official investigation into the events leading up to the stampede.
Preliminary findings indicate that overcrowding was the primary cause of the incident. Every hour, 1,500 general tickets were being sold, leading to an overwhelming surge of passengers. With the limited space available on the platforms, railway officials admitted that it became impossible to manage the rapidly growing crowd.
In the wake of the tragedy, security measures at New Delhi Railway Station have been significantly tightened. Additional personnel have been deployed to regulate passenger movement, control crowd surges, and prevent a repeat of the disaster.
While train services resumed normal operations by Sunday morning, the emotional scars of the night’s horror remain fresh. The station still bore remnants of the tragedy, with scattered luggage, lost personal items, and grieving families searching for answers.
For the railway workers tasked with clearing the wreckage, it was one of the most heartbreaking scenes they had ever witnessed.“There were belongings everywhere—slippers without their pairs, half-eaten food, and even a child’s school bag. People had no time to pick up their things; they just ran for their lives,” said a railway staffer who worked overnight to clean the affected platforms.
Despite their efforts to restore order, the tragedy has left an indelible mark on those who lived through it. The pain of families who lost their loved ones, the cries of children looking for their parents, and the haunting sight of scattered belongings—these are wounds that cannot be easily erased.
