LIVE | 18 dead in Delhi stampede; railway station remains overcrowded amid heavy rush
Swell in crowd of passengers waiting to board trains to Prayagraj ends in stampede; Railways wakes up after tragedy and arranges additional special trains
At least 18 people, mostly women and children, were killed and more than a dozen injured after a stampede broke out at the New Delhi Railway Station late on Saturday (February 15) night.
The stampede was preceded by a swell in the crowd of passengers waiting to board trains to Prayagraj — where the Maha Kumbh is underway — on platform numbers 14 and 15.
Acting Chief Minister Atishi told reporters that 15 people had been brought dead at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital in central Delhi. Almost 15 people were injured and they were undergoing treatment, she said.
The death toll later rose to 18. Five of them are children. The Railways has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families of the deceased.
Also read: Kumbh stampede: A deadly cocktail of ‘VIP culture’ and mismanagement
What caused stampede?
The incident comes days after a stampede claimed at least 40 lives at the Kumbh fair grounds itself.
The New Delhi station stampede broke out around 9.55 pm on Saturday. Eyewitnesses said a huge rush at the station led to the stampede, with several passengers fainting because of suffocation.
In an official statement, the deputy commissioner of police (railway) said platform number 14 was already very crowded when the Prayagraj Express train was waiting there for departure.
Swatantra Senani Express and Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express were delayed and the passengers of these trains were also present on platform numbers 12, 13 and 14, the officer explained.
“According to CMI, every hour, 1,500 general tickets were sold by the railways, due to which the station got overcrowded and became uncontrollable. There was a stampede at platform no. 14 and near escalator near platform no. 16,” the DCP said.
A woman, who fell unconscious on a train, being rescued at the New Delhi railway station, late on Saturday | PTI
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Live Updates
- 16 Feb 2025 8:29 AM GMT
Railway workers describes scene as 'one of the worst' he has even seen
Hours after a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station claimed at least 18 lives, railway staff worked through the night to clear the horrific remains of the tragic incident.
Shoes, torn bags, scattered clothes, and abandoned food lay across platforms 14 and 15 — serving as grim reminder of the chaos that unfolded just hours earlier.
By Sunday morning, workers were seen sweeping away the debris, collecting personal belongings, to restore normalcy at the busy station, but the tragedy left scars that could not be so easily erased.
A railway staffer, who spent hours clearing the wreckage, described the scene as “one of the worst” he 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,” he said.
The eerie sight of personal items scattered across the platforms was a painful reminder of the lives lost and the ones disrupted.
At the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, grieving families gathered to identify their loved ones.
A father, searching desperately for his missing son, broke down upon seeing a familiar blue backpack among the items recovered from the station.
“He was just 12. He was supposed to board the train with me,” he sobbed.
Even as normal train operations resumed, the echoes of Saturday night’s disaster lingered.
A mother still searching for her missing daughter, railway workers picking up the last scattered belongings — traces of a night of chaos and loss that could never truly be swept away.
- 16 Feb 2025 7:54 AM GMT
Nature of injuries suffered by victims
Most of the bodies brought to RML Hospital had injuries in the chest and abdomen area and suffered from asphyxia: RML Hospital Sources - 16 Feb 2025 7:51 AM GMT
Inquest initiated by police
Delhi Police has initiated an inquest proceeding on the New Delhi Railway Station stampede incident. The inquiry is being headed by a DCP-rank officer. As per the Standard Operating Procedure, six additional companies were supplied by PHQ to control the stampede-like situation: Delhi Police Sources
