LUCKNOW, Oct 3: At least 13 women travelling to a Hindu festival were trampled to death on Wednesday in a northern Indian railway station where 42 others were injured, officials said.

The stampede began when two trains arrived around noon on adjacent platforms and a large crowd rushed to change trains at the station in Mughalsarai in Uttar Pradesh, said railway official Mridul Narain.

“It seems a majority of the people were travelling without ticket. When they saw ticket checkers checking tickets they wanted to go back, and this triggered the stampede,” said Narain.

Police official Kashmira Singh said the 13 women were elderly and tripped and “people just trampled over them.” They were from the neighbouring state of Bihar, he said.

The women were on their way to the holy city of Varanasi to bathe in the Ganges river during a local festival that is supposed to ensure a long life for one’s son.—AP