An inquiry report into the New Delhi Railway Station stampede that killed at least 18 people on Saturday night due to overcrowding has revealed that an announcement for a special train for Maha Kumbh devotees and a sudden surge in the sale of tickets to Prayagraj were factors that led to the tragic incident.
As per the report, accessed by Aaj Tak, India Today’s sister channel, railway authorities were issuing approximately 1,500 general tickets every hour for Prayagraj.
On Saturday night, the report said that hundreds of passengers were waiting on platform 14 to board a train for Prayagraj, while a large number of travellers also gathered at the adjacent platform 13 to board the Swatantrata Senani Express, which runs from New Delhi to Darbhanga.
However, the Swatantrata Senani Express was delayed and rescheduled to depart at midnight, due to which the passengers remained on the platform.
As a result of the additional ticket sales, the number of travellers started to increase on platform 14, leading to overcrowding, with hardly any empty space for people to even stand on, the inquiry report said.