One person died, and several more were injured in a stampede at Surat Railway Station in Gujarat’s Surat district on Saturday.
According to sources, the stampede occurred when hundreds of passengers tried to board a Bihar-bound train outbound from Surat Railway Station ahead of the Diwali and Chhath Puja festivities.
A massive crowd of migrant workers, mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, were on the way to their native hometowns when in a headlong rush the crowds attempted to board the outbound trains resulting in a stampede.
The police managed to control the situation, and additional forces were deployed to manage the crowds at the station compound.
Surat is a hub of migrant labourers, and nearly 1.5 million labourers hail from States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha.
Surat’s MP, and State Railways Minister, Darshana Jardosh visited the hospital to meet the injured persons.
Meanwhile, Public Relations Officer Sumit Thakor said, “In view of the festive season, this year, Western Railways have run 46 pairs special trains with about 400 trips covering Mumbai, Gujarat, and parts of Madhya Pradesh. Over 7 lakh passengers are travelling to their destination using these trains”
“Keeping in view the festive rush, special arrangements have been made for crowd management. Nearly 165 RPF and GRP jawans have been deployed at Surat station and additional ticket counters have been opened,” he added.
