Passengers caught in a stampede at Elphinstone railway station's foot over bridge, in Mumbai on Friday. PTI Mumbai: A massive crowd of morning commuters stampeded on the stairwell of a narrow footbridge linking two railways stations in Mumbai on Friday, leaving at least 22 people dead and more than 30 injured as onlookers watched victims stumbling, falling and piling up along the railings, officials said.
The tragedy took place around 10.40 am when the overbridge, linking Elphinstone Road and Parel suburban stations, became overcrowded with people taking shelter from a heavy downpour. The bridge is used by lakhs of people to commute to the commercial area with high-end corporate and media offices, a police official said.
People were trapped on the stairs and the decades-old bridge, crammed so tight in the narrow space that several suffocated to death. As those on the platform below watched helplessly, many people attempted to escape by climbing over the railing. Many were seen trying desperately to stay upright in the onslaught pf tumbling humanity.
"It was raining heavily and people on the bridge were in a rush to get down, while those who had alighted from suburban trains were making their way up," said Kishor Thakkar, who has been traveling on the route for years.
"We had given a letter to the railway administration six months ago with a request to do something to improve the shoddy state of affairs here," he said.
The pile of footwear left behind was a mute testimony to the tragedy that unfolded.
Condolences pour in
Condolences came in from president Ram Nath Kovind, vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu and prime minister Narendra Modi. Compensation of Rs 10 lakh was announced for kin of the deceased -- Rs 5 lakh from railways minister Piyush Goyal and Rs 5 lakh from Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
How it happened
The rain and a short circuit were among the reasons being attributed for the stampede, which many citizens said was a tragedy waiting to happen.
"The overbridge of Elphinstone station was overcrowded and due to rain it got slippery too. This caused panic and resulted in the stampede," said Atul Shrivastav, inspector general of the Railway Protection Force.
The pile of footwear left behind was a mute testimony to the tragedy that unfolded. PTI"Due to sudden rain, people waited at the station. When the rain stopped, there was chaos as people rushed out," added railways spokesperson Anil Saxena.
The police also suspect that a short-circuit with a loud sound near the FOB led to panic and people started running, resulting in the stampede.
Eight women and a young boy were among those killed, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) disaster management cell chief Mahesh Narvekar said, adding that five of the injured were critical.
The railways minister, who reached Mumbai this morning, canceled his program to inaugurate 100 additional suburban services in Mumbai and announced a high-level inquiry headed headed by Western Railway's chief safety officer.
Besides Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased, he also announced Rs 1 lakh for the grievously injured and Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries.
"Situation in Mumbai is being continuously monitored. @PiyushGoyal is in Mumbai taking stock of the situation & ensuring all assistance," Modi said in a tweet.
According to the BMC's disaster control room, 22 people were brought dead to the KEM Hospital in Parel.
Officials of the railway, police and fire brigade rushed to the site to carry out rescue operations.
"Though security personnel were deployed to regulate the crowd on the staircases of the platform, excessive crowd led to the unfortunate incident," WR's chief public relations officer Ravinder Bhakar said.
It was technically not a "rail-related" incident, but the victims would be compensated according to rules of the railways, he said.
Soon after the stampede, an accident relief medical equipment train rushed to the spot and medical assistance was provided to the victims, a railways official said.
"I feel sad for these families and such a thing happening in my Mumbai is matter of grave concern. We are committed to avoid any recurrence of any such incidents," the railways minister told reporters.
CM announces probe
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is in Singapore for an investor interaction, added in a tweet that an inquiry would be conducted by the Maharashtra government and the Ministry of Railways and necessary strict action would be taken.
The medical expenses of the injured would be borne by the state government, he said.
The Mumbai police has issued an appeal to donate blood.
Oppn seeks minister's resignation
Opposition parties including BJP ally Shiv Sena attacked the government for its push for the big-ticket bullet train project amid lack of rail infrastructure.
The Sena, which has been at loggerheads with the BJP, was the most vicious in its the attack, calling the incident a "massacre".
"This incident is a public massacre for which the government and railways are responsible. We have time and again demanded that the old and dilapidated foot overbridges be redeveloped but no action has been taken yet," Sena MP Sanjay Raut told PTI.
"The government has no time to rectify the shortcomings in the present rail system, it wants to bring in bullet trains," he added.
Angry Sena activists raised slogans against Railway Minister Piyush Goyal outside the hospital and demanded his resignation.
A similar demand was made by the NCP, with the party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Majid Memon terming the incident as a "multiple homicide".
Terming the incident "unfortunate", the Congress said this was not the time to play politics.
"This is really unfortunate that we have lost 22 innocent people and several are injured. But this is not the time to play politics. Rather, I would advise the government to introspect where its policies are heading," Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Chavan said.
An unfulfilled promise
It has come to light that former railway minister Suresh Prabhu had assured a Shiv Sena MP last year that a wider bridge would be built instead of the existing one.
However, Prabhu, in a statement issued later in the day, said he had approved a proposal for the construction of a new foot overbridge (FoB) at Elphinstone Road station in April 2015, but it was marred by bureaucratic red tape.
In a letter dated February 20, 2016, Prabhu had written to Sena MP from Mumbai Arvind Sawant that the "construction of 12 meter wide new foot overbridge at Elphinstone Road was under the positive consideration of Railway Ministry."
Construction of the new bridge, connecting Western Railway and Central Railway after extension of Platform No 1 and 2 towards north side by 100 meters, was under "positive consideration" of the Ministry, Prabhu had written in the letter accessed by PTI.
In the statement, he said Rs 11.86 crore was allocated for the construction of a new 12 metre wide and 10 metre long FOB.
Prabhu said he had immediately approved the proposal following communication from Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MP Rahul Shewale wherein he had raised concern over the problems faced by commuters and the need for widening the existing FOB.
The former railway minister, who resigned after a spate of rail accidents recently, said a notification for a new bridge "could not be issued due to the lethargic attitude of the railway administration".
Prabhu said had the administration acted swiftly on the file that was approved, the tragedy would not have struck Mumbai.
The statement added that during 2009-2014, 14 FoBs were sanctioned, out of which 11 were completed. 19 FoBs were sanctioned during 2014-2017 and the work on 22 FOBs is underway.
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