New Delhi railway station stampede triggered by falling luggage: Vaishnaw
What's the story
A stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station on February 15, which killed 18 people, including four children and 11 women, was triggered by a large piece of luggage falling from a passenger's head. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw revealed this in Parliament on Friday. The incident occurred during the evening rush hour as thousands gathered for Bihar-bound trains during the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj.
Probe findings
Falling headload main reason behind tragedy
The high-level inquiry committee found that the falling headload was the main reason behind the tragedy. The victims, including four children and 11 women, died of traumatic asphyxia. The incident took place on foot-over-bridge 3 at around 8:48pm. Despite adequate crowd management protocols being in place, passenger density increased after 8:15pm due to many carrying large headloads, which obstructed movement on the narrow footbridge.
Safety measures
Indian Railways to introduce crowd management measures
In response to the tragedy, Indian Railways will introduce extensive crowd management measures at 73 stations that are periodically prone to heavy passenger rush, the minister told Parliament. Permanent holding areas will be set up outside these stations. Pilot projects are already underway at New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Varanasi, Ayodhya and Ghaziabad.
Infrastructure upgrades
New foot-over-bridge designs to be introduced
The railways will introduce new foot-over-bridge designs—12 meters wide and six meters wide—to replace existing narrow structures. These wider bridges with ramps were effective during the recent Maha Kumbh festival. Advanced surveillance systems, including CCTV networks and war rooms for coordinated crowd management, will be installed at all heavy-traffic stations. Digital communication equipment such as walkie-talkies and public announcement systems will also be deployed to improve coordination during peak hours.
Management overhaul
Station directors to be appointed at all major stations
All major stations will have a senior officer designated as station director with financial powers to make immediate decisions during crowd situations. Station directors will also control ticket sales based on station capacity and available train services. This incident is the deadliest railway station incident since Mumbai's Elphinstone Road stampede in 2017, which killed 23 people.