Girl struggles to breathe in crowded train while passengers mock her; video of incident goes viral

A disturbing video circulating on social media shows a young girl gasping for breath in an overcrowded train compartment as bystanders choose to laugh and film rather than help her. The incident has triggered widespread outrage and renewed debates on passenger safety during peak travel hours. In the clip, the visibly distressed girl struggles to open a window for fresh air and splashes water on her face to cope with the heat, while onlookers mock her plight and record the scene — drawing sharp criticism online for their apathy.

"A girl was almost suffocated, stampeded into a train coach, and she was running out of breath. The crowd on the platform was laughing and mocking her. What do you call such behaviour?'', the caption of the video said that went viral on social media X.

The post tagged Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Railway Ministry, and Railway Seva, urging urgent steps to improve crowd management during the festive season. It recommended measures such as limiting entry at high-traffic stations and deploying security forces like the CRPF on peak travel days to curb overcrowding and enhance passenger safety.

Watch video here:

What did Railways say?

The Railway Seva account responded to the video, expressing concern and asking for details to investigate the matter further. The reply said, "We are concerned to see this. Please share details like the Place of incidence, the Date of incidence and the Mobile no so that we can get it checked. You may also raise your concern directly on https://railmadad.indianrailways.gov.in for speedy redressal."

How did people react?

Many users condemned the bystanders' behaviour, calling it insensitive and inhumane and called for better safety measures. One user said, "As I say, Indians lack empathy and severely lack civilised behaviour. People's behaviour and understanding of emergencies and emergency care are extremely low in India. Emergency response theory and practice must be a part of the syllabus in schools in India. Otherwise degeneracy will increase."

Another commented, "These people just stood there laughing and recording on their phones while a girl was gasping for breath, literally fighting to stay conscious? That's not just shameless, it's inhuman."

A third said, "What is wrong with the people? And most of them are young educated men, sad to see this, lack of arrangements from the railway is equally responsible for this chaos, these kinds of situations lead to stampede."