Title - In pics: Allahabad raiway station stampede

Allahabad : Thirty-six people were killed in a stampede at the Allahabad Railway Station on Sunday evening while several were critically injured. Sixteen of the dead were yet to be identified. The injured were admitted to the Swaroop Rani Hospital and Railway Hospital here. The tragedy occurred around 7 pm on a footbridge between platform number 5 and 6 of the station. Lakhs of people were present at the station around that time, many on their way back from Allahabad after taking a holy dip in the ongoing Kumbh Mela here. Sunday was 'mauni Amavasya', considered the most day of bathing during the religious congregation that takes place every 12 years. Eyewitnesses said the stampede occurred after the police lathicharged to control the crowd. Highly placed sources in the railways, however, rubbished that there was any lathicharge and said the police only tried to bring the chaos in order. Police sources said around 4,000 people were present at the stampede point. The railway authorities also ruled out that there was any railing collapse in the platform, which some media said, caused the tragedy. Victims' kin said the authorities took more than two hours to respond after the incident. They said only one doctor was attending several people who were injured in the stampede. While eyewitnesses said four to five people died at the station because they were not taken to the hospital on time, a news source said 10 bodies were lying at the station hours after the incident. Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the officials could not reach on time because of traffic problem. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav later ordered a probe into the stampede and submit report to him. His government also asked the Railways to make proper arrangements to clear the huge rush of devotees attending the Maha Kumbh Mela. Over three crore people were at the mela site on Sunday to take holy dip. Nearly 50 special trains were made operational to cater to the visitors besides the 112 regular trains that pass through Allahabad regularly. The BJP demanded thorough probe into the incident while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed grief over the deaths.