SURAT: A special train going to Bhagalpur in Bihar on Saturday morning saw unprecedented rush leading to the death of a 30-year-old man after he was caught up in the crowds. At least four others too fell unconscious and suffered suffocation.
Deceased Ankitkumar Birendra Singh was given CPR by police officials present but he failed to recover. Singh was carrying a reserved ticket and was heading home for Diwali and Chhath festivals, railway officials informed.
Western Railway (WR) officials informed that the family of Singh will be given ex gratia compensation of Rs 10 lakh.
The four others include two women and two men. Of them, one was Ramprakash, 40, a brother of the deceased. A woman, Suija Prajapati, 40, was also admitted in SMIMER for treatment and their condition is said to be stable.
Two other victims have recovered and were not admitted. “The train was brought to the platform at around 9am almost an hour before its departure. The passengers were sitting inside for a long time when around five persons felt suffocation. Our officers brought the victims out and gave CPR to Singh,” said Saroj Kumari, superintendent of police, GRP, Vadodara.
Following the incident, Union minister of state for railway and textile Darshana Jardosh along with railway officials visited the victims of the incident in SMIMER hospital. Minister Harsh Sanghvi visited Surat railway station along with senior police officials to assess the situation.
“With increased footfalls, I visited the Surat railway station and bus station to see the arrangements. We are also keeping enough buses to manage the rise in number of passengers,” Sanghvi added.
“Prima facie, it seems the incident happened due to suffocation. Police have registered a case of accidental death, and the body has been sent for postmortem,” said a GRP official.
Meanwhile, Western Railway officials claimed that they are not sure if the passenger died of suffocation or some other health complication. “Postmortem will reveal the exact cause if the person died of suffocation or heart attack,” said Sumit Thakur, chief PRO, WR.
“WR is running an additional 46 pairs of trains and a total of 400 trips. Of this, 27 pairs are through Surat. Every year, ahead of festivals huge rush is witnessed and hence, we are planning long-term infrastructure,” added Thakur.
Jardosh said, “There are new trains and additional ticket booking facilities developed considering the festive season. People need to avoid crowding and take advantage of the additional facilities developed by the railway for the festivals.”
Deceased Ankitkumar Birendra Singh was given CPR by police officials present but he failed to recover. Singh was carrying a reserved ticket and was heading home for Diwali and Chhath festivals, railway officials informed.
Western Railway (WR) officials informed that the family of Singh will be given ex gratia compensation of Rs 10 lakh.
The four others include two women and two men. Of them, one was Ramprakash, 40, a brother of the deceased. A woman, Suija Prajapati, 40, was also admitted in SMIMER for treatment and their condition is said to be stable.
Two other victims have recovered and were not admitted. “The train was brought to the platform at around 9am almost an hour before its departure. The passengers were sitting inside for a long time when around five persons felt suffocation. Our officers brought the victims out and gave CPR to Singh,” said Saroj Kumari, superintendent of police, GRP, Vadodara.
Following the incident, Union minister of state for railway and textile Darshana Jardosh along with railway officials visited the victims of the incident in SMIMER hospital. Minister Harsh Sanghvi visited Surat railway station along with senior police officials to assess the situation.
“With increased footfalls, I visited the Surat railway station and bus station to see the arrangements. We are also keeping enough buses to manage the rise in number of passengers,” Sanghvi added.
“Prima facie, it seems the incident happened due to suffocation. Police have registered a case of accidental death, and the body has been sent for postmortem,” said a GRP official.
Meanwhile, Western Railway officials claimed that they are not sure if the passenger died of suffocation or some other health complication. “Postmortem will reveal the exact cause if the person died of suffocation or heart attack,” said Sumit Thakur, chief PRO, WR.
“WR is running an additional 46 pairs of trains and a total of 400 trips. Of this, 27 pairs are through Surat. Every year, ahead of festivals huge rush is witnessed and hence, we are planning long-term infrastructure,” added Thakur.
Jardosh said, “There are new trains and additional ticket booking facilities developed considering the festive season. People need to avoid crowding and take advantage of the additional facilities developed by the railway for the festivals.”