In a tragic incident, a couple from Bihar are devastated after their 12-year-old boy died in the stampede at New Delhi Railway station. The victim is 12-year-old Neeraj, son of Indrajit Paswan from Bihar, who was at the station to board the Swatantrata Senani Express with his parents.
Neeraj, hailing from Patepur in Vaishali district of Bihar, was adopted by his uncle Indrajith and wife a few months ago. Indrajith decided to adopt the boy who was the son of his brother Sanjit Paswan, after being childless for years, according to Asianet Hindi.
After adoption, the couple decided to bring him to Delhi to give him a good education as the boy was good in his studies. The couple were returning to their home for a break when they got caught in the stampede. According to the child's relatives, both his parents were critically injured in the stampede. They blamed the Railways for the incident and said the child was caught in the melee after the announcement of train changing platforms came.
Meanwhile, a 7-year-old girl too lost her life in the stampede after a nail pierced her head in the incident. Her father Upal Singh told reporters that they got down from platform number 14 but sensing the crowd swelling, they decided to leave without boarding the train.
"We started climbing up, there were just six more steps left when my daughter got stuck in the middle. Around 5,000-6,000 people began coming down from above. People started falling over each other. A nail pierced my daughter's head," said Singh, a native of Unnao in UP, putting his finger to his head.
Massive crowd at New Delhi Railway Station causes stampede-like situation as people rush for trains to Mahakumbh in Prayagraj. Unconfirmed report of 4 women fainted due to suffocation. Delhi Fire Brigade & emergency services have rushed to the scene. #NewDelhi #Mahakumbh pic.twitter.com/ORrGwtLhVa
— know the Unknown (@imurpartha) February 15, 2025
Meanwhile, there are reports that as many as 9,500 unreserved tickets were sold on Saturday at the New Delhi Railway Station. This is almost 2,000 more than what was sold on a regular day.
A senior Railway official said the numbers weren't that unexpected as more tickets were booked on February 8 and January 29 at 54,660 and 58,000. On Saturday, only 54,000 were booked. Railway officials also said that they decided to run trains to Prayagraj only from platform 16.
