Man dies in chaos as crowds swell at Surat station to board Bihar-bound train for Chhath festival

Ahmedabad: A 36-year-old diamond worker from Bihar was killed while two others including a woman sustained injuries in a stampede while they were trying to board a Bhagalpur-bound train at Surat Railway Station on Saturday. Officials said that the station is flooded with passengers going mainly to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal for Diwali and Chhath break.

The deceased has been identified as Ankit Virendrakumar Singh, who worked in a diamond factory while his brother Ramprakash, 42, suffered injuries. They were going home to Bhagalpur district. Another injured person has been identified as Suija Singh, 30, a resident of Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh. Union Minister of State for Railways and Textiles Darshna Jardosh rushed to the hospital to meet the injured passengers. Jardosh is also the BJP MP from Surat.

According to railway officials, the stampede occurred after a large number of people were trying to board the Surat-Bhagalpur train at platform no-4. They said that the train, which has a capacity of about 1,500 seats, was crowded by more than 2,000 to 3,000 passengers who were jostling to get onto the train.

In a media release, the Western Railways said that steps were being taken to prevent such incidents. The statement said that Western Railways have run 46 pairs of special trains with about 400 trips covering mainly Mumbai, Gujarat and some parts of Madhya Pradesh, out of these 27 pairs originating or passing either from Surat or Udhna station (Surat). It said that seven lakh passengers are using these trains.

Later in the day, the railways posted on X (formerly Twitter) that to clear the extra rush of passengers of Diwali and Chath, a special unreserved train (Udhna - Danapur) would depart from Udhna.

"People from all over India live in Surat. During the festival time, everyone goes to their hometown, mostly using railways. Today, due to overcrowding, some passengers complained of suffocation, the railway administration has remained vigilant and provided medical treatment to everyone. Met all the passengers and inquired about their condition and gave appropriate instructions to the administration. It is my humble request to all the passengers that you take care of yourself during the journey and travel comfortably," Jardosh posted on X.