The capital’s deputy minister has reported that a panic at the main train station in New Delhi on Saturday evening left at least 15 people dead and 15 injured.
Around 8 p.m. local time, the deadly boom occurred as thousands of people boarded a train to Prayagraj’s Hindu festival, Maha Kumbh.
Eyewitness Dharmender Singh said there was” a great frenzy… a large audience. I have never seen such a throng before”.
Those killed included 10 girls and three children, according to local media reports.
Delhi’s chief minister, known mononymously as Atishi, said on X that many of the victims were travelers en route to go the Maha Kumbh event.
Their bodies were taken to the city’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain Hospital, Atishi said.
In articles on X, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some other federal officials confirmed the event, but they did not specify how many people died.
” Distressed by the panic at New Delhi Railway Station. My feelings are with all those who have lost loved ones, Mr. Modi told X.
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Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister of railways, stated that an investigation has been ordered to determine the source of the fatal panic.
After tens of millions of Hindus gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters, at least 30 people died in yet another panic at the six-week event itself.