AT LEAST 18 people died in a stampede at a railway station in Delhi late on Saturday as large crowds rushed to board trains heading to the Maha Kumbh Mela, officials and reports said.
The Kumbh Mela, held every 12 years in Prayagraj, attracts tens of millions of Hindu devotees and has seen several crowd-related incidents. Last month, at least 30 people died in a stampede at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati rivers.
The incident at New Delhi railway station occurred as passengers struggled to board trains for the ongoing festival, which is set to end on 26 February.
"I can confirm 15 deaths at the hospital. They don't have any open injury. Most (likely died from) hypoxia or maybe some blunt injury but that would only be confirmed after an autopsy," Dr Ritu Saxena, deputy medical superintendent of Lok Nayak Hospital in New Delhi, told AFP.
"There are also 11 others who are injured. Most of them are stable and have orthopaedic injuries," she added.
Broadcaster NDTV reported that three more people had died, quoting an official from another hospital in the city.
Most of the victims were women and children.
"I have been working as a coolie since 1981, but I never saw a crowd like this before," The Times of India quoted a porter at the railway station as saying.
"People started colliding and fell on the escalator and stairs" when the platform for a special train to Prayagraj was suddenly changed, the porter said.
Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said a "high-level inquiry" had been ordered into the incident. He also said additional special trains were being arranged to manage the rush.
Prime minister Narendra Modi said he was "distressed" by the incident.
"My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery," he wrote on X.
Delhi governor Vinai Kumar Saxena said disaster management teams had been instructed to deploy personnel, and "all hospitals are in readiness to address related exigencies."
The six-week-long Kumbh Mela is one of the most significant events in the Hindu religious calendar. Officials said around 500 million devotees have visited the festival since it began last month.
The event has witnessed major stampedes in the past. In 1954, more than 400 people were killed in a single day due to trampling and drowning. In 2013, 36 people died in a crowd crush, the last time the festival was held in Prayagraj.
(With inputs from AFP)
Lakshmi Mittal 