A crush at a New Delhi railway station has claimed the lives of at least 15 people as pilgrims surged to catch trains en route to the Kumbh Mela, the world's largest religious gathering.
At least 15 people have died in a crush at a railway station in India's capital when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to the world's largest religious gathering, the Kumbh Mela . The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj, and has a history of crowd-related disasters.
The rush at the train station in New Delhi on Saturday appeared to break out as crowds struggled to board trains for the ongoing event, which will end on February 26th. Dr. Ritu Saxena, deputy medical superintendent of Lok Nayak Hospital in New Delhi, told Agence France-Presse: “I can confirm 15 deaths at the hospital. They don’t have any open injury. Most (likely died from) hypoxia or maybe some blunt injury but that would only be confirmed after an autopsy.” Prime minister Narendra Modi said on X: “My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery. The authorities are assisting all those who have been affected by this stampede.” Defence minister Rajnath Singh said he was “extremely pained by the loss of lives due to stampede” at the New Delhi railway station. “In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. Praying for the speedy of the injured,” Singh said in a social media post. The governor of the capital, Vinai Kumar Saxena, said disaster management personnel had been told to deploy and “all hospitals are in readiness to address related exigencies”. Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said additional special trains were being run from New Delhi to clear the rush of devotees. The Kumbh Mela is the single biggest milestone in the Hindu religious calendar, and officials said about 500 million devotees have already visited the festival since it began last month. More than 400 people died after they were trampled or drowned on a single day of the festival in 1954, one of the largest tolls in a crowd-related disaster globally
INDIA KUMBH MELA STAMPEDE RAILWAY STATION DELHI RELIGIOUS GATHERING CRUSH DEATHS PILGRIMS PRIME MINISTER MODI
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