Hours after a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station claimed at least 18 lives, railway staff worked through the night to clear the horrific remains of the tragic incident.
Shoes, torn bags, scattered clothes, and abandoned food lay across platforms 14 and 15 -- serving as grim reminder of the chaos that unfolded just hours earlier.
By Sunday morning, workers were seen sweeping away the debris, collecting personal belongings, to restore normalcy at the busy station, but the tragedy left scars that could not be so easily erased.
A railway staffer, who spent hours clearing the wreckage, described the scene as "one of the worst" he ever witnessed.
"There were belongings everywhere' -- slippers without their pairs, half-eaten food, and even a child's school bag. People had no time to pick up their things; they just ran for their lives," he said.
The eerie sight of personal items scattered across the platforms was a painful reminder of the lives lost and the ones disrupted.
The stampede occurred around 9:55 pm on Saturday night when thousands of passengers, mostly Maha Kumbh pilgrims, crowded the station to board trains to Prayagraj.
The Prayagraj Express was stationed at platform 14, while the Swatantrata Senani Express and Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express were delayed, causing an overwhelming surge of people on platforms 12, 13, and 14.
The situation worsened when a last-minute platform change was announced. Confused and panicked, the passengers rushed towards platform 16, where an escalator became a choking point.
Security personnel tried to intervene, but the crowd was too large to control. Some passengers attempted to climb railings to escape, while others were crushed underfoot.
When the chaos subsided, 18 people including 11 women and five children had lost their lives, while more than a dozen others suffered injuries.
As dawn broke, railway staff began the grim task of cleaning up. Videos shared by news agency PTI showed workers sweeping debris off the platform roof and clearing the tracks. Bags and clothing were collected in piles, while officials searched for any remaining personal belongings.
At the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, grieving families gathered to identify their loved ones.
A father, searching desperately for his missing son, broke down upon seeing a familiar blue backpack among the items recovered from the station.
"He was just 12. He was supposed to board the train with me," he sobbed.
The government has announced Rs 10 lakh compensation for the families of the deceased.
Expressing his condolences on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Distressed by the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery."
Railway authorities have admitted that overcrowding was a major factor for the disaster. Every hour, 1,500 general tickets were being sold, leading to a surge in passengers that became impossible to manage.
Security measures have now been tightened, and officials have launched an investigation into what went wrong.
Even as normal train operations resumed, the echoes of Saturday night's disaster lingered.
A mother still searching for her missing daughter, railway workers picking up the last scattered belongings -- traces of a night of chaos and loss that could never truly be swept away.
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