NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
A stampede at the Lucknow railway station on Saturday night claimed the lives of sixteen Bahujan Samaj Party workers.
The workers were returning after attending a mammoth rally organised by Chief Minister Mayawati.
The city was teeming with people throughout the day. It became worse when they started heading towards the railway station in the evening.
"It all started when some rallyists, while trying to save an old woman who had slipped on the staircase, fell over one another," Ram Prasad from Agra, who lost his cousin Lakshman, said.
A little later, some BSP workers, who had climbed on the roof of the Barauni-Amritsar Express, came in contact with a high-voltage wire, witnesses said, adding three of them died.
Four of the dead were identified as Kamalesh Kumar of Unnao, Shankar of Agra, and Harish Chandra and Durgesh of Shravasti, sources said.
"Much chaos was caused due to the arrival of unmanageable crowds... The incident has disrupted all train services, but we hope to soon put things in order," Divisional Railway Manager Kamlesh Gupta told rediff.com
"Never before had such massive crowds come to the Lucknow railway station, even though Lucknow was a venue for several political rallies," he said.
"It was not even possible to walk on any of the platforms when I arrived here," he added.
At around 1900 IST, around 75,000 people had converged at the station, which has a capacity to hold 12,000 to 15,000 passengers.
Authorities were clearing off the rush by attaching extra coaches to different trains.
Three special trains were also lined up. "While one of the trains will cover the Moradabad-Meerut sector, the other will cater to passengers belonging to Varanasi and nearby areas and the third one will take people towards Jhansi," Gupta said.
No senior BSP leader cared to visit the railway station. A BSP minister and two legislators showed up at the local Civil Hospital, where 15 of the injured were admitted.
The state government announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 100,000 to the kin of each of those killed.
ALSO READ Advani overwhelmed by Mayawati rally Heavy security in Lucknow for BSP rally Lucknow decked up for Mayawati's rally
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
