After the tragic loss of 18 loves in a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station, the Indian Railways has formed a two-member committee to probe the incident and ascertain the reason. Executive Director of Information and Publicity at the Railway Board, Dilip Kumar on Sunday said that a two-member high-level committee had been formed to investigate the matter and determine the cause of the stampede at New Delhi railway station.
The two-member committee constituted by the railways includes Narsingh Deo PCCM/Northern Railway and Pankaj Gangwar, PCSC Northern Railway. The enquiry has started and the committee has ordered to secure all the video footage of NDLS Railway Station.
"A two-member high-level committee has been formed to investigate the matter," said Dilip Kumar. He further assured that the situation has been under control and passengers have been accommodated on special trains. The normal train movement has also resumed at the station.
"The situation is under control, and the passengers have been sent by special train... Train movement at the railway station is normal now," he added. According to Kumar, the station experienced an unusually high volume of passengers which prompted the railways to operate four additional special trains to manage the crowd.
Unfortunately, the large number of passengers led to a chaotic situation, with reports of people fainting and being hospitalized. To regain control of the situation, entry to the railway station was temporarily blocked.
"The number of passengers was relatively very high today at the New Delhi railway station, and so we ran four more special trains. We received information that a few people fainted - they have been admitted to a local hospital. We blocked entry to the railway station for a while, but the situation is under control now," added Kumar.
Earlier, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw ordered a high-level investigation to investigate the circumstances leading to the stampede in response to the incident. The inquiry will identify the causes of the incident and suggest measures to prevent similar situations in the future. "A high-level inquiry has been ordered by the Railways on the unfortunate incident," according to the Ministry of Railways.
In an official statement, the deputy commissioner of police (railway) said platform number 14 was already very crowded when the Prayagraj Express train was waiting there for its departure. The officer said Swatantra Senani Express and Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express were delayed and the passengers of these trains were also present on platform numbers 12, 13 and 14.
He further added, "As per CMI, every hour 1,500 general tickets were sold by railways due to which the station got overcrowded and became uncontrollable. There was a stampede at platform no. 14 and near escalator near platform no. 16."
(With ANI Inputs)