RailEnquiry

At least 36 people were killed and over 30 injured in a stampede following the collapse of an overbridge railing at the Allahabad railway station on Sunday owing to the Kumbhmela rush, an official said on Monday.However, the railways has, on its part, denied any wrongdoing. Rejecting the state government officials' claim that the overbridge railing had collapsed, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said, "The reports of foot overbridge collapse are not true...  we are trying to verify this. The Railways cannot be blamed for the tragedy.""There was no lathicharge at Allahabad railway station," he added.The Uttar Pradesh government too has blamed the Railways for the tragedy. Minister in charge for the Mahakumbh, Azam Khan, said, "The UP government's responsiblity was restricted to the mela venue only."Meanwhile, the Opposition criticised the UP government for not following the necessary procedures on Sunday.Several eyewitnesses also alleged that there was a lathicharge by the police that compounded the panic but Divisional Railway Manager Harinder Rao claimed that the passengers were not baton charged and that police only attempted to regulate the movement of the crowd at the platforms by asking passengers to stand in line.As soon as the bridge's railing broke, there was a stampede, an eyewitness said.

The stampede occurred at 7 pm on Sunday at platforms 5 and 6 when the railing collapsed due to overcrowding. Several people fell on the tracks and down the stairs, the officials said.

After the deaths, the Uttar Pradesh government requested the railways to shift some trains from the busy Allahabad station to the Prayag station on the outskirts of the city, 200 km from state capital Lucknow, an official said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has condoled the death of the pilgrims in the stampede and directed central ministries, including the railways, to extend all possible help to the state government in relief operations.