Delhi stampede caused by mega crowd, 4 trains arriving in quick succession: sources.

An investigation into the deadly stampede at New Delhi railway station on Saturday, which killed 18 – including five children – has revealed that a senior Railway Police Force (RPF) official had asked the station manager not to issue any more tickets after he sensed that the crowd had become too large and an uncontrollable situation could arise, but thousands were already on the

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has, however, said that there was no extraordinary rush at the station.

Sources said an RPF investigation report into the incident found that four trains to Prayagraj were scheduled to leave the New Delhi railway station between 8.15 pm and 10.10 pm – a span of just two hours – resulting in a massive crowd of Maha Kumbh devotees descending on the platforms. Reports had said that, on average, nearly 1,500 general tickets were sold at the station every hour and many more were purchased online

Express, between New Delhi and Varanasi via Prayagraj, was scheduled to depart from platform number 12 at 8.15 pm, the Magadh Express to West Bengal’s Islampur via Prayagraj from platform number 14 at 9 pm and the Prayagraj Express from the same platform at 10.10 pm. By the time the Shiv Ganga Express left, thousands of passengers could not make it on the crowded train and that’s when they found out that a special train would leave for Prayagraj from platform 16.

This sparked a frenzy and, the report said, the big mass of people began trying to make its way from platform 12 to 16 to board the special train using foot overbridges two and three. In addition to the usual rush, a crowd of people was already heading for platform 14 for the two trains to Prayagraj and the overflow from platform 12 joined this throng. This, the report said, led to the stampede.

The Northern Railways’ Chief Public Relations Officer Himanshu Shekhar said the document being quoted is not a report but an individual account of a Railway Police Force personnel.

“This is not a report, it’s an individual’s statement, more than 300 RPF personnel were present at that time at the station. So this is an individual’s account of what happened. The high-level committee will examine all statements of the stakeholders present, and will go through the CCTV footage. All statements will be cross-examined and corroborated. It will not be wise to draw conclusions from this statement,” he said.

On Monday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had ruled out any conspiracy behind the stampede at the New Delhi station and emphasised that there was no extraordinary rush either.