20 dead in Delhi tragedy; RPF with report pointing out railway lapses

NEW DELHI: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has submitted a preliminary investigation report into the tragedy that took place at the New Delhi railway station on Saturday night. The report was handed over to the Railway Ministry.

The Railways made lapse leading to the tragedy. Not 18, but 20 people died. 10 people were seriously injured. The announcements made by the Railways regarding the special train to Prayagraj created confusion among the passengers. This is one of the reasons for the tragedy, the report says. The report also clarified that the tragedy occurred at 8.48 pm, not 10 pm as the authorities had earlier said.

Announcement error

1. Platform number 16 was allocated to stop the special train to Prayagraj. However, the railway announced that the train would depart from platform number 12. With this, the group of devotees rushed to Platform 12. Meanwhile, a second announcement was made that the train would arrive at Platform 16 itself. This confused the passengers. The crowd became uncontrollable.
2. Despite the heavy rush, general tickets were sold without any limit. This led to congestion on the platforms and the flyover.
3. The crowd increased as people came to board the Magadh Express and Samparka Kranti Express, which were parked on platforms 14 and 15.
4. The injured and the dead could be evacuated only by closing the entry gate and preventing the entry of passengers immediately after the incident.
5. The CCTV cameras on the flyover where the incident took place were not working. Critical footage was not available.