Sruchi Kumari, 12, washed her hair and got into a fresh pair of sandals as she left her makeshift shanty on the northwest peripheries of Delhi on Saturday evening to travel to the world’s largest religious gathering at the Maha Kumbh Mela.
By midnight, her cold body lay wrapped in a white cloth inside the government-run Lok Nayak Hospital, alongside at least 17 others who were killed in a deadly stampede at the New Delhi railway station.
Her father Manoj Kumar, wearing a red hoodie, sat in a corner sobbing outside the casualty ward. He had lost his mother, father, and daughter to the stampede. “My daughter promised to return with a bottle of holy water for me,” Kumar said. “She was crushed by people in a rush. I do not understand what the hell broke upon my family today.”
Nearly a dozen people from Kumar’s family, engaged in waste and scrap dealing in Delhi, were en route to the festival in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Their journey was cut short at the railway station in Delhi when last minute changes in the platform from which festival-bound trains were departing led to confusion and a surge in crowds. Among the 18 people known to be killed, three were children.
This is the third Maha Kumbh-related stampede since the festival started last month. In an earlier mishap that happened at the festival grounds, swelling crowds led to the deaths of at least 30 people, with a ground report pegging the number at more than double.
‘Total chaos’
Inside the casualty ward at the hospital, 22-year-old Nitesh Kumar sat next to a stretcher, holding the hands of his mother, Krishna Devi. His silence was punctuated by frequent sobs as young doctors, wearing medical masks and hand gloves, ran around navigating a growing police presence.
One of the doctors swooped in to tie the body’s hands as the medical crew prepared to finalise the paperwork for the bodies. Devi’s body was labeled “No. 14”, with a white slip pasted on it – it said she had died at 10.37 pm.
Nitesh stood up wailing, pushing back the doctor, and shouted at his younger brother: “You should have taken care of her. You should have been there!”
Hearing the wails, Delhi police officials, who had practically taken over the casualty ward, rushed to stop Nitesh and dragged him away from his mother’s body. “These m***s, who have gone mad in the name of religion, killed my mother,” said Nitesh, shouting at the police personnel, who later consoled him.
The Narendra Modi government has come under scrutiny for failing to manage the crowds at the mela, as well as those en route to the festival. On social media, several people have complained of immense overcrowding on trains, with videos surfacing showing irate passengers throwing stones at trains after they were unable to get on board.
Nitesh recalled the events leading to the Saturday stampede at New Delhi railway station. “Our train [headed to Prayagraj] was running late and suddenly, the announcement came to switch the platform and everybody started running around.”
His family found themselves stuck on the stairs that lead to platform number 14. “It was horrific to see the crowd swelling,” he said. “There was no order, no police personnel deployed there, and we were struggling to breathe.”
The next moment, before he knew it, Nitesh had lost touch with Devi, who was crushed by the crowd on the stairs. “People were pushing each other, trampling over breathing bodies, caring for nothing,” he said. “It was total chaos.”
KPS Malhotra, deputy commissioner of police, railways, told reporters that “the stampede-like situation had been caused by an influx of passengers from delayed trains”.
“When Prayagraj Express was standing at platform number 14, lots of public were present at the platform,” Malhotra said. “Swatantrata Senani Express and Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani were delayed, and passengers of these trains were also present at platforms 12, 13 and 14.”
Three bodies and no money
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was “distressed by the stampede”. In a post on X, he wrote: “My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery. The authorities are assisting all those who have been affected by this stampede.”
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that an investigation has been ordered to find what led to the stampede after “this unprecedented sudden rush” at the New Delhi Railway Station.
Away from the flashing press cameras, outside the main gate of the Lok Nayak Hospital in Delhi, Manoj Kumar ran about frantically trying to find an ambulance driver willing to travel 1,100 km with three bodies – his mother, father, and 12-year-old daughter – to their home in Muzzafarpur, Bihar.
“I am a scrap dealer and I have got no money with me,” said Kumar. Instead of travelling with his family, he had stayed back home because he needed to work. “How will I take these bodies to my village?” he asked. “I feel like this is the end of the world for me.”
All photographs by Yashraj Sharma.
