New Delhi railway station: Traffic, people fleeing stampede delayed rescuers

A stampede at New Delhi railway station led to 18 deaths and many injuries, with fire officials delayed by heavy traffic in crowd management efforts.

Minutes after the stampede at New Delhi railway station on Saturday night, the Capital’s fire department was called in for crowd management, officials said. However, traffic snarls in and around the station, followed by a swell of crowds at the station itself, meant that fire officials — the earliest first responders to arrive at the scene — reached over 20 minutes after they got the first distress call.

Emergency services arrive at the railway station and make their way towards the entrance amid crowds of passengers. (HT Photo)

At least 18 people were killed, and scores others were severely injured in the stampede at the New Delhi station, which was triggered by the arrival of thousands of people who wished to board Prayagraj-bound trains to attend the Maha Kumbh.

Fire officials said that they received the first call about the situation at 9.55pm, following which two fire tenders were immediately dispatched from the Rani Jhansi Road fire station. However, these units got stuck in traffic in and around Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, prompting fire officials to dispatch two more tenders from the Connaught Place station via the Ranjit Singh Flyover.

“There was so much traffic around the station that we got stuck, and called the fire control room to send additional tenders from the Connaught Place fire station,” fire official Manish Kumar said.

Kumar said his team first attempted to reach the station from the Paharganj side of the station, but got stuck in heavy traffic. “So, we tried going from the Ajmeri Gate side, but even there, there was heavy traffic as people had started rushing out after the stampede… One side of the road was barricaded for traffic management, but vehicles were exiting the station from that side, leaving no space for emergency vehicles to move in,” he said.

Delhi Fire Services (DFS) chief Atul Garg said railway officials and porters at the station had already begun moving the bodies of some of the deceased by the time fire officials arrived, adding that DFS evacuated some of the injured to ambulances that took them to hospitals.

Rajinder Atwal, whose fire team was rushed in from Connaught Place, said when they arrived at the scene, there was no train on platform 14.

“There was still a large crowd on the platform. I keep going to the railway station regularly but have never seen such a huge swarm of people in my life… Other platforms too were getting overcrowded… The crowd at platform 13 had swelled so much that another mishap could have occurred there,” said Atwal.

Kumar said at the station, the crowds were uncontrollable, and people were in a panic. He said his team informed those passengers about which hospitals the injured were being taken to, and helped reunite those separated from their relatives during the rush.