1 dead, many hurt as platform change leads to stampede
LUCKNOW: One person died and several others were injured at Harauni railway station in Banthra area of Lucknow following a stampede, allegedly caused by a last-minute announcement changing the platform on which a local train was to arrive, on Monday.
Railway officials said the incident took place at around 6:22 am when Lucknow-Kanpur MEMU train (64202) arrived at the station. A passenger, identified as Pradeep, 25, a resident of Latifnagar, died of head injuries while trying to board the train, they said.
While the passengers alleged that last-minute announcement for change of platform for the train’s arrival led to commotion, a senior railway official maintained that the incident took place as the passengers did not take the rail over bridge (ROB) to reach the correct platform.
“The train usually arrives at the platform scheduled for arrival and departure of local trains. The passengers tried to catch the train by walking over the tracks which resulted in chaos,” said divisional railway manager (DRM), Lucknow, Satish Kumar. “One of the passengers, Pradeep, died of head injuries that he received while trying to board the moving train,” he added.
Passengers, however, said the train was scheduled to arrive at platform number 3 but its arrival was changed to platform number 4.Sanjay Singh, a passenger, said as people rushed towards platform number 4, they saw the train arriving on platform number 3 only.
“As the passengers tried to catch the train, a man was hit by it and received grievous head injuries,” he said.
“It was actually a stampedelike situation as passengers were rushing from one platform to another. Some crossed the tracks while others were injured while climbing the rail over bridge. Things were even worse for senior citizens,” said another passenger Prashant Shukla. Passengers blamed railway authorities for the last-minute change in platform. “It is sheer negligence of railways. This is not for the first time that the platform of MEMU train has been changed just before its arrival,” said Vikram Shukla, an eye-witness.