Stampede at Indian train station kills 18

NEW DELHI — At least 18 people, including 14 women, were killed in a stampede at a railway station in India's capital of New Delhi, the Press Trust of India news agency reported on Sunday.

Many of the victims were Hindu pilgrims who were traveling to the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj in northern India, according to Delhi's caretaker chief minister, Atishi, who uses only her first name.

The stampede happened late on Saturday while thousands of people had gathered at the railway station waiting to board a train. The incident occurred after some passengers slipped and fell on others while coming down from a footbridge that connects train platforms, authorities said.

Sheela Devi, who was at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital in New Delhi to collect her daughter-in-law's body, said an announcement about a change of train platforms created confusion among passengers that led to the stampede.

"The crowd went out of control and no one could control it," said Nikhil Kumar, a shopkeeper who witnessed the crowd surge.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other federal ministers confirmed the stampede incident without disclosing the death toll.

"Distressed by the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones," Modi said on X.

India's Home Minister Amit Shah said in a post on X that he had spoken to the railway minister and taken stock of the situation.

An inquiry was ordered into the incident, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on X.

India has witnessed several rail accidents in the last two years, including a collision in 2023 that killed at least 288 people. Indian railways is the fourth largest train network in the world and is undergoing a $30 billion upgrade, as part of Modi's push to boost connectivity.

Agencies via Xinhua