The death toll in the stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station has touched 18 as of Sunday morning. The porters at the station played a huge role in saving lives, helping passengers and carrying the bodies of the deceased.
Porters who have been working at the station for several decades said they never saw such crowd before. With the designated platform for the Prayagraj Special switching from 12 to 16, people ran in a rush and collided with another set of crowd from the other direction around 9.30 pm on Saturday. They were heading to Prayagraj where the Maha Kumbh was under way.
#WATCH | Stampede at New Delhi railway station | A porter (coolie) at the railway station says "I have been working as a coolie since 1981, but I never saw a crowd like this before. Prayagraj Special was supposed to leave from platform number 12, but it was shifted to platform… pic.twitter.com/cn2S7RjsdO
— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2025
One of the porters, Krishna Kumar Jogi, told news agency PTI people gathered in large numbers on the foot-over-bridge. A massive crowd began piling up on the bridge, leaving many suffocated and struggling to breathe. These included women and children. He said around 10 to 15 people died at the spot.
Many of the passengers who fell down the stairs and escalator and the porters came forward to stop the incoming crowd to avoid further rush.
#WATCH | Delhi | Visuals from platform number 14 - one of the platforms at New Delhi Railway Station, where a stampede broke out at 10 PM, yesterday, leaving 15 people dead and several others injured pic.twitter.com/WQBeoef0Le
— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2025
The porters alerted the police as the crowd grew out of control. Once the ambulances arrived, they helped carry the injured and the deceased to hospital.
Saying he witnessed the entire incident, Jogi said they carried corpses from Platform 14 and 15 to the ambulance.
Another porter, Balram, said they carried the dead bodies on handcarts, which they use for luggage.
The porters said they saved lives of many children and the elderly by pulling them out of the crowd.
The Railways has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for those who were killed, Rs 2.5 lakh for the seriously injured and Rs 1 lakh for those with minor injuries.
