Second stampede victim identified; survivors look for lost kin

NEW DELHI - A day after two people were killed and many injured in a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station, scores of survivors were Monday looking for their missing family members or lost belongings. A 10-year-old boy, the second victim of the stampede, was Monday identified by his father in the mortuary.

Govind, the boy, had remained unidentified after the stampede as he lay dead at the railway station. He was Monday identified by his father Anil Rai, a senior police official said.

According to police, Rai was himself injured in the stampede and was discharged Monday. He identified his son’s body in the mortuary.

“Earlier, the description that Rai gave matched the body but due to Rai’s injuries, he was not physically able to identify his son,” the official said.

The stampede happened when two Bihar-bound trains, New Delhi-Bhagalpur Vikramshila Express and New Delhi-Muzaffarpur Sampark Kranti Express, were scheduled to depart at 2.40 p.m. and 2.45 p.m.

Vikramshila Express was scheduled to leave from platform No. 12 and Sampark Kranti from platform No. 13, but a last minute swap led to the stampede in which a 35-year-old woman and the boy were killed.

On Monday, survivors still waited at the station, looking for missing family members or lost belongings.

“I lost my phone somewhere, I can’t find my husband. I am waiting here for him,” said 27-year-old Shikha Dutta with tears in her eyes.

Rakesh Kumar, a daily wage worker from Patna, sat dazed outside the station.

“In this panic, I lost my luggage, somebody even stole my wallet. From my tickets to my phone with all the numbers in it…It’s all gone. Who should I go for help now?” asked Kumar.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Monday said the railway ministry should be answerable for the tragedy.

“The railway ministry has to see what went wrong at the station and how could it be prevented,” Dikshit told reporters.

Another angry survivor wanted to know why some trains were not being diverted to the Anand Vihar station that has been ready for five months to reduce the passenger load on New Delhi railway station.

“Only seven regular trains and a few summer specials go from Anand Vihar station. When will the government start acting fast to avoid such untimely deaths? The minister (Mamata Banerjee) is sitting in Kolkata and claiming to give compensation…which will reach when? She should come and see what we went through. How we survived…,” said 53-year-old Babulal Mishra, who also lost his baggage and money.

Railway authorities in the city, meanwhile, stopped selling platform tickets Monday at the New Delhi railway station as a precautionary measure.

“This step was taken to lessen the crowd on the platform. After yesterday’s incident we do not want such incidents to be repeated. Only old people and children are being given platform tickets,” a railway official said.

The railway ministry Monday said that a three-member high level committee has already begun probe into the matter.

The ministry has announced an ex-gratia of Rs.200,000 for the next kin of those who lost their lives and Rs.50,000 and Rs.15,000 respectively to those who received grievous and simple injuries.