Dropped luggage triggered Feb 15 fatal stampede at New Delhi railway station, says Railways Minister

A large piece of luggage falling from a passenger’s head triggered the stampede at New Delhi railway station on February 15, killing 18 people, including 11 women and four children, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told Parliament citing findings of a high-level inquiry committee into the tragedy.

The incident occurred around 8:48 pm on Foot-over-Bridge 3, connecting platforms 14 and 15, as thousands gathered for Bihar-bound trains amid the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj. The narrow 25-foot-wide stairs and heavy crowds contributed to the chaos.

Vaishnaw explained that many passengers carried large items on their heads, hampering traffic on the stairs. When one headload fell, it caused people to trip and led to a cascading collapse. Post-mortem reports confirmed the victims died of traumatic asphyxia.

Although the committee noted that crowd management protocols were in place, it also found that passenger density began rising sharply after 8:15 pm, overwhelming the staircase.

Ticket sales had surged that evening, reaching up to 1,500 tickets per hour, contributing to bottlenecking on the footbridge.

The inquiry panel recommended sweeping crowd-control reforms. Minister Vaishnaw said Indian Railways will implement such measures across 73 high-traffic stations, including the installation of larger foot-over-bridges, holding areas outside platforms, and improved monitoring infrastructure like CCTV and public address systems.

In Parliament, Vaishnaw highlighted that this was the deadliest railway station incident since the Elphinstone Road stampede in Mumbai in 2017, which claimed 23 lives.

Victims were rushed to nearby Lok Nayak Hospital by station porters and passengers, as ambulances struggled to reach the site. Emergency teams including RPF, police, and fire tenders arrived within 40–45 minutes.

Railway officials have since begun rolling out reforms. Pilot crowd management projects are underway at key stations like New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Ghaziabad. Permanent holding areas and better access control measures are expected to curb future incidents