Did passengers' confusion over train names lead to New Delhi railway station stampede?
By : Sandhya
The initial probe into Saturday's deadly stampede at the New Delhi railway station that killed 18 people, found that the passengers got confused between 'Prayagraj Express and Prayagraj Special', and thought they might miss their train. The confusion occurred due to the announcement of the trains having same initial name ‘Prayagraj’.'
The announcement of the 'Prayagraj Special' arriving at Platform 16 led to confusion among the waiting passengers because the Prayagraj Express was already at Platform 14. "People who were reaching Platform 14 thought their train was arriving at Platform 16 and they rushed towards it, leading to the stampede.
Additionally, four trains were heading to Prayagraj, out of which three were delayed, causing unexpected overcrowding. “There was confusion among the passengers regarding the train names and the change of platforms of the trains. Which ultimately led to the tragedy''.