15 killed in Indian stampede to catch trains to Hindu festival

NEW DELHI:At least 15 people died during a stampede at a railway station in India’s capital late Saturday when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to the world’s largest religious gathering, a medical official told AFP.

The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj, and has a history of crowd-related disasters -- including one last month, when at least 30 people died in another stampede at the holy confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.

The rush at the train station in New Delhi appeared to break out Saturday as crowds struggled to board trains for the ongoing event, which will end on February 26.

“I can confirm 15 deaths at the hospital. They don’t have any open injury. Most (likely died from) hypoxia or maybe some blunt injury but that would only be confirmed after an autopsy,” Dr Ritu Saxena, deputy medical superintendent of Lok Nayak Hospital in New Delhi to AFP.

“There are also 11 others who are injured. Most of them are stable and have orthopaedic injuries,” she said.