At least 18 people are dead after a stampede at New Delhi railway station in India

NEW DELHI — At least 18 people, including 14 women, were killed in a stampede at a railway station in India’s capital of New Delhi, the Press Trust of India news agency reported Sunday.

Many of the victims were Hindu pilgrims who were traveling to the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj in northern India, according to Delhi’s caretaker chief minister, Atishi, who uses only one name.

The stampede happened late Saturday while thousands of people were gathered at the New Delhi railway station waiting to board a train. The incident occurred after some passengers slipped and fell on others while coming down from a footbridge that connects train platforms, authorities said.

Sheela Devi, who was at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain Hospital in New Delhi to collect her daughter-in-law's body, said an announcement about a change of train platforms created confusion among the passengers that led to the stampede.

“The crowd went out of control and no one could control it,” said Nikhil Kumar, a shopkeeper who witnessed the crowd surge.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was “distressed by the stampede.”

“My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery. The authorities are assisting all those who have been affected by this stampede,” he said on the social platform X.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that an investigation has been ordered to find what led to the stampede.

At least 30 people were killed in a stampede at the six-week festival last month after tens of millions of Hindus gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters.