18 dead in India stampede to catch trains to Hindu mega-festival

Security personnel stand guard outside a hospital where victims are brought following a stampede in New Delhi on February 16, 2025. [AF]

At least 18 people died during a stampede at a railway station in India's capital late Saturday when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to the world's largest religious gathering, officials and reports said.

The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj, and has a history of crowd-related disasters -- including one last month, when at least 30 people died in another stampede at the holy confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.