Probe into stampede after clearing Kumbh rush: Railways

Officials say additional trains, buses are being plyed to clear the rush of pilgrims

Railways today said a probe will be initiated into the Allahabad railway station stampede here, which left 36 dead, once it is through with the task of clearing the rush of Kumbh pilgrims.

Alok Johri, General Manager of the North Central Railway zone, said, "Our top priority is to ensure a safe return journey for the thousands of pilgrims who visited the Kumbh Mela yesterday. We are plying about two dozen special trains today to facilitate this".

"Top officials of the state government, led by the Chief Secretary, are scheduled to visit later in the day. We will discuss the tragedy with them and share our inputs. A probe will follow once we are through with ferrying pilgrims back to the places they had arrived from", he said.

An inquiry committee was constituted late last night by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to investigate the tragedy.

The committee, headed by the Board of Revenue Chairman Jagan Matthews, "would conduct an in-depth investigation into various aspects of the tragedy and submit its report to the government", official sources had said.

The UP government had ordered an inquiry into the stampede and asked the Railways to make proper arrangements to clear rush of devotees and sanctioned an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh to the kin of each of the deceased persons.

Meanwhile, nearly 6,000 additional buses were being run to clear the city in general and the Kumbh Mela area in particular, official sources said.

The administration claimed that nearly three crore devotees had visited the city since Saturday night for the bathing festival.