LUCKNOW, Sept 28: At least 13 people died in a stampede here on Saturday after a political rally by India’s Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani.

Police said 15 others were also injured in the stampede that began when people headed for the main railway station in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, to catch trains home.

Aaj Tak television network placed the number of people injured at 18.

A senior police official said scores of people from the rally climbed down stairs to reach the platform and began jostling passengers. In a sudden rush they toppled and fell over one another.

The Press Trust of India said the stampede began after some of the people touched a live wire while rushing to catch trains.

City authorities cordoned off the station and rushed in police contingents.

The official said the victims were supporters of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which governs Uttar Pradesh jointly with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Witnesses said the station was crowded with thousands of people when the stampede occurred, adding that many of the injured were rushed to hospital nearly an hour after the accident.—AFP