A statement by Indian Railways' Northern Railway Chief Public Officer (CPRO) appeared to contradict what the railway police, and eyewitnesses have said about the deadly stampede that claimed at least 18 lives on Saturday (February 15) night. It has been described by eyewitnesses, including a coolie at the New Delhi station that last minute platform change sparked the stampede.
Northern Railway CPRO Himanshu Upadhyay told news agency IANS and other media outlets that that such claims were based on 'rumours'
"I would like to clarify that no scheduled train had its platform changed or was canceled yesterday. These are just rumors. However, to assess where lapses or mistakes occurred, a high-level committee is conducting an inquiry and will submit its report soon..." he told IANS.
Hear the full comment in the video below.
Earlier, news agency ANI spoke with a coolie (porter) at the railway station who said that a last-minute platform change had indeed occurred. The elderly porter said that in all his time working as a coolie, he did not see a crowd as huge as the one that was present on New Delhi station on Saturday.
A statement from railway police appeared to confirm what the coolie was saying. Multiple media outlets published videos of a Railway Police DCP who appeared to say that the announcement for platform change was made at the last minute following which the stampede occurred as people rushed to change platform in order to catch train.
Prior to the stampede there were delays in departures of several trains due to which the crowd on the platforms swelled considerably.
