"Big Headload Fell...": Railway Minister On What Led To Delhi Station Tragedy

A big headload that "fell from one of the passengers" led to the tragedy at New Delhi Railway Station that killed 18 people, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said today in response to a member's query.

It resulted in the "tripping of passengers on the stairs", said the minister.

In response to a query by Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman in Rajya Sabha, Mr Vaishnaw shared details from the report by a high-level inquiry committee that was constituted to examine the circumstances leading to the "unfortunate incident".

Mr Suman had asked the Railway Minister about the status of the report of the committee constituted to investigate the stampede and the corrective steps taken by the government.

Eighteen people were killed and 15 were injured on February 15 at the New Delhi Railway Station, which witnessed a surge of passengers waiting to board trains for Prayagraj -- where the Maha Kumbh was underway at the time. In a post on X that night, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was "distressed by the stampede".

However, in the Railway Minister's statement, there was no mention of the word "stampede".

On the day of the tragedy, around 49,000 general tickets were sold at the railway stations, 13,000 more than the daily average, Mr Vaishnaw had informed the Lok Sabha in March.

In his response today, the minister stated that sufficient crowd management measures were in place that day to manage the high number of passengers at the station. There was a "gradual increase of passenger density on the foot over bridge (FOB) after 8.15 pm", mentioned the written reply.

"Many of the passengers were carrying big headloads, affecting smooth movement on the FOB. There was a big headload falling from one of the passengers, and the pressure was passed on to the stairs of platforms 14 and 15, resulting in the tripping of passengers on the stairs. This led to an incident at 8.48 pm on FOB-3," the minister said.

"Consequently, passengers fell on each other," he said.

Compensation of Rs 10 lakh was given to the families of each victim, Rs 2.5 lakh to those seriously injured, and Rs 1 lakh to those with simple injuries. "A total amount of Rs 2.01 crore has been paid to 33 victims and their family members," Mr Vaishnaw said.

To manage large crowds better, the railways have put new measures in place. These include permanent holding areas, access control for confirmed ticket holders at 73 stations, wider foot overbridges, CCTV cameras, and war rooms at major stations. The Maha Kumbh Mela, the 45-day event that ended in February, led to record ticket sales, emphasising the importance of solid crowd management during such events.