On Saturday night, a devastating stampede at New Delhi Railway Station resulted in the deaths of 18 people, including seven-year-old Riya from Sagarpur. Her father, Opil Singh, has tearfully recounted the nightmare at platform number 14, where chaos erupted.
With a thick crowd congesting the platform, a panic ensued. He left behind the train headed to Prayagraj and headed for the stairs to return home. Hundreds were rushing towards them, tossing their belongings aside in the bedlam.
Amid the madness, little Riya's hand slipped from his grasp and she was pushed into an open space by the stairs. The crowd’s pressure caused an iron rod to lodge into her head. The frantic search for help led them down a maze of corridors, yet none was found in time.
Ultimately, after a desperate thirty-minute journey to the hospital, they arrived, but it was too late for Riya. In their sorrow-stricken household remain his wife and two daughters, with Riya being the youngest. Her demise has plunged the family into deep grief.
The heartbroken father added, that as the crowd swelled alarmingly, they attempted to retreat by climbing a few stairs, only to be overrun by thousands advancing, heedlessly discarding luggage. Riya drifted to the side, and there, an iron rod endangeringly pierced her head.
