Kolkata, (West Bengal) [India], February 16 (ANI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kunal Ghosh has termed the Delhi stampede a failure of the Railway Ministry and the railway management. As many as 18 people were killed and many more were left injured at the New Delhi railway station on Saturday evening in the incident.

Ghosh told ANI, 'This is a serious accident. This is the failure of the Railway Ministry and the railway management. First, there were train accidents one after the other, and now so many people died on the platform. What is the Railway Minister doing? He only wants publicity. Now, there is no place for safety in the railways. First, there was a stampede at Mahakumbh, and now there is a stampede in Delhi.'

Meanwhile, a two-member committee has been formed to investigate the incident.

The committee comprises Narsingh Deo, Northern Railway's Principal Chief Commercial Manager (PCCM), and Pankaj Gangwar, its Principal Chief Safety Commissioner (PCSC), the railways said on Sunday.

The committee has initiated a high-level inquiry into the incident, the Railways said. As part of the investigation, the committee has ordered the securing of all video footage from the Railway Station to aid in the probe.

The tragedy occurred at 10 p.m., on Saturday as lakhs of devotees were heading to Prayagraj for the Mahakumbh 2025 festival, causing significant overcrowding at the station.

The deceased were identified as Aaha Devi, 79, Pinky Devi, 41, Sheela Devi, 50, Vyom, 25, Poonam Devi, 40, Lalita Devi, 35, Suruchi, 11; Krishna Devi, 40, Vijay Sah, 15, Neeraj, 12, Shanti Devi, 40, Pooja Kumar, 8, Sangeeta Malik and Poonam, both aged 34, Mamta Jha, 40, Riya Singh, 7, Baby Kumari, 24, and Manoj, 47.

The Indian Railways has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families of the deceased and compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh was announced for the seriously injured and Rs 1 lakh for those with minor injuries. (ANI)