Scars of a crush: How survivors held on to railings and dear life

New Delhi: For Sharda Devi, the scars of the

New Delhi railway station stampede

will stay with her forever.
The 38-year-old resident of Bijwasan was excitedly headed to Kumbh Mela with her 16-year-old daughter Khushi and 19-year-old relative Baby Kumari. They arrived at New Delhi Railway Station around 10pm to catch the Prayagraj Special on Saturday night.
Devi said that upon arriving, they found "a massive crowd" at platforms 13 and 14. "The authorities weren't allowing people to pass, which led to a stampede," she recounted.
In the crush, Devi did the only thing that she possibly could. "I held on to a railing attached to a net and sat on the ground," she said. The railing was of a foot overbridge. "But my daughter and Baby were crushed in the crowd," she said. Devi too suffered injuries, and survived. She then searched for her daughter and Baby. She found them both lying unconscious. A desperate Devi splashed water on their faces, but Baby had died already. Khushi is receiving treatment at Lady Hardinge Medical College. She has suffered injuries on her back, chest and other parts of her body.

"People were falling on each other. Many couldn't breathe. This is the worst management I've ever seen. The scars will never heal," Devi said.
Kamlesh Kumari and her husband, Shivaji, were headed to Lalitpur in Jhansi. Their train's scheduled departure was around 8pm. "As we were coming down the stairs, a crowd arrived, and I fell down and got injured," Kamlesh said. "I lost my money and all my valuables."
To save themselves, the couple managed to stand on a steel net near a foot overbridge railing. They were later found sitting in a corner at the station. Shivaji was trying to console a distraught Kamlesh, who had injured her leg and was unable to walk.
Rudal Mandal (49), along with his brother Ganori Mandal and their relative Billo Kumar, had reached NDLS to go to the Maha Kumbh. Rudal and Ganori were injured. Billo had a narrow escape. The trio are labourers. The brothers were sitting on a bench that was between platforms 14 and 15 when the crowd surged after platforms for trains were suddenly changed. "I thought it was our last day, and we were about to die. We were crushed by the crowd, then fell down, and my leg got injured," Rudal said.
People removed them by pulling them by their heads. "Although we were injured, the railway authorities told us to board a train and leave. I told a security official I was injured, but he told me to get treated at Prayagraj," Rudal said over the phone.
Avagesh (20) was headed to Kanpur to attend his brother's wedding, but found himself fighting to save his life. "People who were on the stairs of the foot overbridge started jumping on to the roof to save themselves," he said.