5 of 18 New Delhi railway station stampede victims died of traumatic asphyxia

Five of the 18 victims of the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night died from traumatic asphyxia.

Five of the 18 victims of the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night died from traumatic asphyxia, Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital in central Delhi said after conducting a postmortem examination of the five bodies on Sunday.

Lok Nayak Hospital handed over five bodies to RML Hospital for an autopsy, and did a post-mortem examination of the remaining ones. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

Traumatic asphyxia is a rare condition that occurs when the chest or upper abdomen is severely crushed, impairing breathing and blood return. It can lead to cyanosis, petechiae, and subconjunctival haemorrhage.

“No injured people were brought to RML Hospital. We received five dead bodies on Saturday night from Lok Nayak Hospital (LNJP) for postmortem. Four of them were females and one was a male. The cause of death of all five patients was ‘traumatic asphyxia’,” a hospital official said.

LNJP did an autopsy of the remaining bodies between 4am and 8 am, said a senior doctor from LNJP. No information has been provided as to the cause of death of those people.

Injured victims

“Of the 12 victims who have received serious injuries, only two are currently at the hospital receiving treatment at the orthopaedic department for serious injuries including fracture. Five injured people – Shailender, Umesh Giri, Anubhav, Ved Praksh Giri and Lalita – have taken leave against medical advice (LAMA) and the rest have been discharged,” said a senior LNJP Hospital doctor.