MUMBAI: Commuters stampeded on a Mumbai railway bridge during the morning rush hour Friday killing at least 22 people and injuring at least 30, according to disaster management reports. The stampede took place as a crowd tried to leave a narrow foot over-bridge connecting two busy train stations after a heavy rainfall.
A TV footage showed commuters trying to revive the injured by pumping their chests and also carrying some downstairs to street level. The police were trying to control the crowd of commuters.
The stampede started around 10.30 am near a ticket window on the bridge between the Parel and Elphinstone Road stations. According to witnesses, four trains came at the same time and due to the rain, a few commuters slipped, which led to chaos in the surging crowd. There were more than the usual people on the bridge at the time, waiting for the rain to end.
“Many were waiting in the rain. There were too many people in a cramped space. When people were trying to rush to their trains, the stampede happened,” said railway spokesperson Anil Saxena.
“It happened on the narrow staircase. All the injured were rushed to the nearest hospitals,” said police officer Niket Kaushik.
Praveen Bangar, a senior medical officer at the KEM hospital near the accident site, said 15 people were brought dead.
The two stations are used by much of Mumbai’s local train commuters as there are a large number of offices in the area.
Asked what the trigger was, a western railways official said: “Because of the rain, two trains came here, two on central line. Four trains came at the same time.”
Reports suggest there have been calls for repairing the bridge, which is too old and narrow and not strong enough to take the busy sector. “It was a disaster waiting to happen,” remarked a local resident, saying that the station has been overcrowded and decrepit for years.
Local trains are the lifeline for the 20 million people of Mumbai and accidents are common on the busy network.
