Political rally stampede death toll rises to 16

THE death toll from a stampede at a railway station after a huge political rally in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh rose to 16 yesterday when two more people died in hospital, police said.

Thousands of people crowded the main railway station in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh state, in a rush to board trains after the rally ended yesterday. Eye witnesses said an old man fell and as some people were helping him upget back to his feet, many in the crowd surged forward, tripping over those below.

Railway workers and police had accounted for 16 bodies, a police official said. “It was simply a case of overcrowding,” said Arun Kumar, the deputy inspector-general of police in Uttar Pradesh.