NEW DELHI, Feb. 18 -- Two announcements, three minutes apart, about a Prayagraj-bound Kumbh Special train, but mentioning different platforms may have sparked the deadly stampede that killed at least 18 at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night, a report of the incident by the Railway Protection Force said.

The two announcements, the first one saying the train would leave from Platform 12, and the second, Platform 16 came just before what the report terms "a stampede-like situation".

HT has reviewed a copy of the report that refutes the Indian Railways version of events, which claims that there was no announcement regarding Platform 16.

The incident report prepared by inspector in-charge of RPF's New Delhi post mentions that after...