Death toll rises to 36 in Allahabad station stampede

Allahabad/Lucknow: A blame game broke out between the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday over taking the responsibility for the Allahabad station stampede in which the death toll rose to 36 even as a senior state minister resigned on Monday owning moral responsibility.

CMO Allahabad Dr Prabhakar said 14 more people died during treatment, taking the death toll to 36. The victims include 26 women, 9 men and a child. Bodies of 20 of the deceased have been identified.

“We all know who is at fault for this incident,” Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said. Railways Minister P K Bansal blamed the stampede on tardy crowd management by the local administration.

Replying to a query, he said “prima facie, the stampede appears to be a result of people entering the station both through the city side as well as the Civil Lines side.”
“People should realise that Railways is not supposed to manage crowds. Its duty is to ferry people to their destinations,” he said. “Those supposed to take care of the crowd management could not do so and the tragedy occurred,” Bansal said.

Taking moral responsibility for the stampede, UP Cabinet Minister Mohammad Azam Khan resigned as the in-charge of Kumbh Mela. “Though the incident took place outside the Kumbh Mela premises, I take moral responsibility and resign as the in-charge of the Kumbh. I am sending my resignation to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav”, Khan told reporters in Lucknow.