New Delhi: As the death toll in a stampede overnight at the New Delhi Railway Station rose to 18 and police began scanning the CCTV footage from the spot to know what transpired before the chaos erupted, eyewitnesses' accounts encapsulated the horror of the tragedy.
The stampede was preceded by a swell in a crowd of passengers waiting to board trains for Prayagraj -- where the Maha Kumbh is underway -- on platform number 14 and 15 of the station.
The relatives of those who died and were injured in the stampede said the accident happened very quickly, almost instantly, with little to no warning time.
The relative of Sheela, 46, who died in the stampede shared the horror. She said, "The wife of her brother-in-law, Sheela,46, who was about to travel to Prayagraj to attend Maha Kumbh with her husband and others, died in the stampede. My brother-in-law was also injured in the stampede and undergoing treatment at the hospital," the woman said.
Pappu, a resident of Sonpur in Bihar, is another person from Bihar whose mother-in-law died in the stampede.
"We were scheduled to travel from Delhi to Danapur. We were scheduled to board the train at 9 pm but we arrived at 5 pm at the station. The chaos breaks out at 8.30 to 8.45 pm. Seeing the mad rush of people, we thought of cancelling our trip, thinking boarding the train was a bit risky, but my mother-in-law did not get time to go to a safe place and was trampled. We rushed her to the hospital where she was declared dead. We regret our inability to rush her to the hospital on time as a massive crowd hundred our transportation," he said.
A porter (coolie) at the railway station gave a more precise account of the stampede. He said, "I have been working as a coolie since 1981, but I never saw a crowd like this before. Prayagraj Special was supposed to leave from platform number 12, but it was shifted to platform number 16. When the crowd waiting at Platform 12 and the crowd waiting outside tried to reach Platform 16, people started colliding and fell on the escalator and stairs. Several collies gathered there to stop the crowd. We took at least 15 bodies and loaded them in an Ambulance. There were only shoes and clothes on the platform. When the crowd waiting at Platform 12 and the crowd from outside tried to reach Platform 16, people started colliding and fell on the escalator and stairs. We called police, fire tenders, and 3-4 ambulances reached there, and people were taken to the hospital..."
Meanwhile, Railways on Sunday announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the next of kin of those killed in the stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station. Those seriously injured will get Rs 2.5 lakh and those with minor injuries 1 lakh, the railway said.
