Crowds have begun to form at railway stations ahead of the Diwali and Chhath Puja celebrations with people heading to their hometowns. A 40-year-old man died while 2 others were injured at the Surat railway station after chaos erupted when passengers were boarding a Bihar-bound special train for the upcoming Chhath festival on Saturday.
Superintendent of Police (Western Railway) Sarjo Kumari said, "Passengers rushed to board the Tapti Ganga Express train from Surat railway station in the morning, causing chaos in which some people fainted." There was a huge rush at the railway station, because of which some passengers suffered panic attacks and dizziness, she said.
One of the passengers suffered a heart complication, and a policeman present on the platform performed CPR on him before he was rushed to a hospital in an ambulance, the official said. Authorities have identified the victim as Ankit Virendra Singh.
“One man fell due to crowding and was declared brought dead. The exact cause of death will be ascertained in the post-mortem. Two other passengers suffered breathlessness and are undergoing treatment,” said Jayesh Patel, the resident medical officer of SMIMER Hospital. Many workers engaged in the diamond and textile industries in Surat travel to their hometowns in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for Chhath puja.
Talking to reporters in Navsari, Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi said the police tried their best to control the crowd after a sudden increase in the number of passengers on the platform to board the Bihar-bound train. The minister said he would visit the railway station soon.
The Western Railway, in a statement, said it has taken special measures given the rush during the festive season, such as operating special trains from Surat and Udhna and deploying personnel from the Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force for security and crowd management. The Western Railway is running 400 trips of 46 pairs of special trains to various destinations, of which 27 pairs are either originating or passing through Surat and Udhna railway stations, it stated.
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