New Delhi: Fifteen people killed in crush

A crush at New Delhi Railway Station has left at least 15 people dead and 10 injured.

Dr Ritu Saxena, deputy medical superintendent of Lok Nayak Hospital in New Delhi, confirmed the numbers to BBC Hindi after thousands of people reportedly crammed into the railway station on Saturday evening.

Reuters news agency reported that three of the dead were children, while 10 were women.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his thoughts were “with all those who have lost their loved ones” in a post on X.

Eyewitnesses told BBC Hindi a “huge crowd” had gathered at the station, from where many people were travelling to and from the Hindu religious festival, the Kumbh Mela.

Ruby Devi said the crowd at the Indian capital’s main railway station had been so big she was unable to get inside.

Another person said the policemen were doing their job “but the crowd became too much”.

Inside the station, according to officials, two trains had been delayed, while a third – heading to Prayagraj, where the Kumbh Mela is held – was waiting to depart.

“There were far more people than I have ever seen at this station,” Dharmendra Singh, who was hoping to travel to Prayagraj, told India’s PTI news agency.

“In front of me, six or seven women were taken away on stretchers.”

K.P.S Malhotra, deputy commissioner of police, said the situation had been “out of control for a brief spell of 10 to 15 minutes due to overcrowding”.

Indian railways had initially dismissed talk of a stampede as a “rumour”, according to Reuters, but confirmed that an undisclosed number of people had been injured and taken to hospital.

The crush comes weeks after dozens were killed in a pre-dawn crush at the Kumbh Mela festival in northern India, where tens of millions of Hindus had gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters on the most auspicious day of a six-week festival.