At least 18 people were killed, including 14 women and three children, and dozens injured in a stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night, as thousands of passengers jostled for space on overcrowded platforms to board trains heading to the religious Maha Kumbh festival.

The stampede was triggered by a sudden platform change announcement, forcing thousands of passengers to shift from platform 12 to platform 16, according to multiple eyewitnesses.

Rajkumar Manjhi, 37, who had come to New Delhi with his family to board a train, was among those caught in the chaos.

“I lost my wife and daughter,” he told The Telegraph, his voice shaking.

“There was a huge rush near the ticket counter. My wife, Shanti Devi, and my daughter, Pooja Kumari, were crushed in the chaos. My son, Avinash, is missing. People were pushing, screaming. I don’t know where he is.”

The festival attracts tens of millions of people of Hindu faith every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj, and has a history of crowd crushes - including one last month, which led to the death of 30 people.

As railway police and emergency responders struggled to clear the platforms, the aftermath painted a grim picture—scattered footwear, abandoned luggage, and the echoes of grief-stricken families searching for their missing loved ones.