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Five killed in railway stampede in India
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-15 09:34
Five women were killed in a stampede at New Delhi's main railway station on
Saturday as hordes of passengers tried to board a train bound for eastern India,
a railway spokesperson said.
At least 10 people were admitted to hospital with injuries suffered in the
stampede, the railway spokesperson said.
"The railway hospital has given us reports of five deaths among the people
who have been taken to hospital," said DPS Sandhu, spokesperson for state-run
Northern Railways.
![Five people were killed in a stampede at New Delhi's main railway station as hordes of passengers rushed to board a train bound for eastern India. [AFP]](xin_391101150935335155215.jpg)
Five people were
killed in a stampede at New Delhi's main railway station as hordes of
passengers rushed to board a train bound for eastern India.
[AFP] | "People were trying to come down the stairs and the (dead) women were pushed
from behind," said Railways Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, who visited the injured
in hospital.
"Most of the victims were old," he told reporters, adding that his ministry
would pay 100 000 rupees (about R13 000) to the next-of-kin of those killed.
He has ordered an inquiry into the stampede.
India has one of the world's largest railway networks which carries millions
of passengers daily. Trains are congested at this time of year, a key period in
the Hindu festival calendar when many travel home.
India celebrated on Friday the biggest Hindu holiday of the year, Diwali, or
the festival of lights.
Survivors said hundreds were caught up in the stampede as people sought to
board the train which was about to leave for Patna, capital of Bihar state.
"People helped rescue other passengers, stopping them from being trampled in
the stampede," said one survivor.
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