Mamata announces Rs.2 lakh compensation for stampede victims

KOLKATA - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee announced Rs.2 lakh each for the kin of two people killed in a stampede in the New Delhi railway station Sunday and ordered a high-level inquiry to know whether it was a result of “sabotage, rumour or negligence”.

“Two people have died and 15 were injured. This is an unfortunate incident. I am shocked…. However, the situation is now under control,” Mamata told reporters here.

A woman and a boy were killed in a stampede at the busy New Delhi Railway Station when hundreds of people rushed to catch a Bihar-bound train and fell over one another on a foot overbridge, the authorities and witnesses said.

While most passengers insisted it was a last-minute change of platform that led to the tragedy, a senior railway official insisted it began when some people tripped over the foot overbridge linking platforms 12 and 13 during the afternoon rush.

Addressing media persons here, the railway minister said that Rs.2 lakh each will be given to the families of the 35-year-old woman identified as Soni and to the yet-to-be identified 14-year-old boy who were killed in the stampede.

She said she shares the grief of the families.

While Rs.50,000 will be given to each of those who sufferd serious injuries, Rs.15,000 will be given to those with minor injuries, she added.

“A high-level committee will go into details to find those responsible for the incident. We want to know why this incident happened. It is worrying. We also want to find out whether it was a result of sabotage, rumour or negligence,” Banerjee said.

The minister said that the railways is taking care of the injured who are in different hospitals in New Delhi.

She said an alert has been issued across all railway stations keeping in mind summer vacation that is leading to a huge rush.