At least 18 people were killed in a crowd crush at a New Delhi railway station Saturday as passengers tried to board trains heading to the world’s largest religious gathering, according to local media citing police.

India’s defense minister says a stampede has killed an unspecified number of people at a major railway station in New Delhi.

Many of the victims were Hindu pilgrims who were traveling to the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj in northern India - the stampede occurred after some passengers slipped and fell on others while coming down from a footbridge that connects train platforms,