What began as a seemingly ordinary evening at New Delhi Station quickly descended into chaos, as a stampede erupted on platform number 14 between 9:30 pm and 10:15 pm. One of the first SOS message regarding the incident came from an X user named Dheeraj Raina, who posted at 7:59 pm, tagging Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
His post read, "Total chaos at New Delhi Railway Station, stampede-like situation at the entrance of Platform 16, only one constable is present who is unable to manage the situation."
Despite the urgency, Raina’s plea went unanswered until 9:07 pm, when the Railway Seva handle sent an automated, generic response, directing the complaint to the Railway Protection Force. However, it took nearly five hours for the government to officially recognise the tragedy that had unfolded.
The tragic incident which led to at least 18 people losing their lives and left 15 others injured, occurred late Saturday night at New Delhi Railway Station, according to officials. The stampede followed a surge in the number of passengers crowding platforms 12 and 14, as they waited to board trains heading to Prayagraj, where the Maha Kumbh is currently taking place.
Passengers, caught in the panic, later described how the crowd had been steadily growing since 9 pm. Despite the growing tension and warnings from the scene, eyewitnesses of the tragedy highlighted on social media that neither the Government Railway Police (GRP) nor the Railways took prompt action to control the growing crowd.
Delayed response and edited X posts
As panic set in, several witnesses turned to social media, desperately sharing SOS messages. Reportedly, the first call to the Delhi Fire Service came at 9:55 pm.
Later, at 12:54 am, a video allegedly showing the situation under control was shared by Amit Malviya, which was quickly refuted by another user, Himanshu Shandaliya. Shandaliya, who had been on Platform 14 around 9 pm, countered, "This was not the situation around 9 pm. I was at Platform 14. There was overcrowding, and it was a stampede-like situation. There was no police or RPF presence. It was total mismanagement. Please don’t try to hide things."
Another user, who narrowly "escaped" the stampede, took to X to point out the mismanagement, criticising that trains approaching the station were not being "stopped at nearby stations to prevent further crowd footfall".
At 11:55 pm on Saturday, when the Railways was still insisting that reports of a stampede were merely rumors, the Lieutenant Governor’s post on X became the first official confirmation of casualties. He wrote, “There has been an unfortunate and tragic incident of loss of lives and injuries due to disorder & stampede at the New Delhi railway station. My deepest condolences to the families of victims of this tragedy.”
However, by 12:24 am on Sunday, the LG edited his post to state, “There has been an unfortunate incident at the New Delhi railway station. I have spoken to the Chief Secretary and the Police Commissioner and asked them to address the situation. The CS has been instructed to deploy relief personnel. Both the CS and the CP are on-site to take control of relief efforts. I am continuously monitoring operations.”
In the revised tweet, the L-G removed mentions of city hospitals being placed on standby and the invocation of the Delhi Disaster Management Act.
Stampede as a rumour
Earlier on Saturday night, ANI posted a statement from the CPRO of Northern Railways, denying the stampede, calling it “no stampede” and “only a rumor.” This post, published at 11:16 pm, has since been deleted. At 12:05 am, the agency shared a video featuring a police officer, DCP Railway KPS Malhotra, who explained, “Two trains were delayed, and due to the extra footfall of passengers, the gathering became huge. A few people are injured. As of now, the situation is under control.”
The agency continued to describe the situation as a “stampede-like” or “unprecedented rush” until, at 12:56 am, Prime Minister Modi posted on X, expressing his distress over the stampede, offering condolences to those who had “lost their loved ones”.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who was the first to post a condolence message on X at 12.16 a.m. stuck to the fact that deaths had occurred in the stampede. He stated, “I am extremely pained by the loss of lives due to stampede on Railway Platform…”
Even after Rajnath’s post, ANI posted at 12.57am: “Dilip Kumar, Executive Director of Information & Publicity (ED/IP), Railway Board, says, ‘The number of passengers was relatively very high today at the New Delhi railway station, and so we ran four more special trains. We received information that a few people fainted — they have been admitted to a local hospital.”
Later on Sunday, ANI shared a video featuring Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Northern Railways, in which he explained that the "tragic incident" occurred when a passenger slipped on the stairs of a foot overbridge due to the crowd, causing other passengers to fall on top of them.
The chronology of posts by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw showed a similar trajectory. When reports of a stampede surfaced on Saturday night (February 15), Vaishnaw initially referred to it as a “sudden rush” in a post on X.
“Situation under control at New Delhi railway station (NDLS). Delhi Police and RPF have arrived. The injured have been taken to hospitals, and special trains are being run to evacuate the sudden rush,” he wrote at 11:36 pm. Later, at 11:52 pm, Vaishnaw updated that four special trains had been deployed to handle the “unprecedented sudden rush” and that the situation had “now reduced”.
At 12:53 am, he mentioned that a “high-level probe” had been ordered, still describing the incident as a sudden rush, without confirming the stampede or the loss of lives.
It wasn’t until 1:09 am that Vaishnaw acknowledged the stampede and the fatalities, posting: “Deeply saddened by the unfortunate stampede that occurred at New Delhi Railway Station. My prayers are with all those who have lost their loved ones. The entire team is working to assist all those affected by this tragic incident.”
His post confirming the stampede and the loss of lives came about 15 minutes after Prime Minister Modi had shared his condolences on X. This was followed by condolence messages on X by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
Attempts to Communalise Tragedy
In the aftermath of the stampede, while some pointed to mismanagement by the authorities and a sudden change in platforms as contributing factors, others attributed the stampede at New Delhi Station to India's population density, poor travel etiquette, and confusion over railway announcements. However, what was truly striking was the attempt by some individuals to give the incident a communal twist in the aftermath.
A video shared by Kreately.in on X features an alleged eyewitness, Shivam Shukla, who claims that there was no official confirmation of a platform change and that rumors were spread by anti-social elements.
Shukla further suggests that certain individuals intentionally pushed others and that people were shouting "Allah Hu Akbar" during the chaos. While some users in the comments are demanding action and investigation, accompanied by minority slurs, others dismiss the claims as yet another Hindu-Muslim conspiracy theory.
The practice of linking communal narratives to railway incidents is not a recent phenomenon for the Indian right wing on social media. In September 2024, AI-generated images began circulating on X and Facebook, showing individuals who appeared to be Muslim placing large rocks on railway tracks.
These images were often paired with the hashtag 'rail jihad', promoting a Hindutva conspiracy theory that falsely accused Muslims of sabotaging rail infrastructure, aiming to cause accidents and casualties. An investigation by Decode exposed how Meta AI’s text-to-image tool was being exploited to create harmful visuals, reinforcing harmful stereotypes about Muslims.
This included portraying Muslim men in a negative light, with instances showing them as paedophiles, amplifying prejudiced narratives about the community.
What caused the stampede?
The tragic stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday evening, which claimed 18 lives and left several others injured, was triggered by a combination of factors, including the delay of two trains, overcrowding on platform 14, and the announcement of a special train. Witnesses have pointed to the lack of proper crowd management by the authorities as a contributing factor.
The incident occurred between 9:30 pm and 10:15 pm when large crowds gathered in anticipation of the Prayagraj Express, scheduled to arrive at 10:10 p.m. on platform 14. At the same time, a special train, the 04404 Subedaarganj Special, also bound for Prayagraj, was set to arrive on platform 12.
Among the deceased were 14 women, including three girls aged seven, eight, and fifteen, along with a 24-year-old woman, nine women aged 35-45, and a 70-year-old. The male victims included a 12-year-old boy, a 25-year-old man, and two men aged 45 and 47.
In response, the Railways has set up a two-member high-level committee, consisting of Northern Railways’ Principal Chief Commercial Manager Narsingh Deo and Principal Chief Security Commissioner Pankaj Gangwar, to investigate the tragic incident.
