At least 15 people die in New Delhi train station stampede – as thousands head to India’s Maha Kumbh festival | World News

At least 15 people have died and a further 15 are injured after a stampede at the main train station in New Delhi on Saturday evening, the chief minister of the capital has said.

The deadly surge happened at about 8pm local time as thousands of passengers waited to board a train to the Maha Kumbh Hindu festival in Prayagraj in northern India.

Eyewitness Dharmender Singh said there was “a huge stampede… a huge crowd. I have never seen such a crowd before”.

Those killed included 10 women and three children, according to local media reports.

Delhi’s chief minister, known mononymously as Atishi, said on X that many of the victims were pilgrims en route to attend the Maha Kumbh festival.

Their bodies were taken to the capital’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain Hospital, Atishi said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some other federal ministers confirmed the incident in posts on X, although they did not disclose the number of people who died.

“Distressed by the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones,” Mr Modi said on X.

Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said an investigation has been ordered to find out what caused the deadly stampede.

Last month at least 30 people died in another stampede at the six-week festival itself, after tens of millions of Hindus gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters.