Mumbai: Amid festive rush, 10 injured in stampede at Bandra railway station

Mumbai: At least ten persons were injured in a stampede at Mumbai’s Bandra railway station on Sunday when hundreds of people attempted to board a Gorakhpur-bound train to head to their native places for the upcoming Diwali and Chhatth festivals, civic officials said.

The Western Railway, however, stated two persons were injured in the incident. The figures cannot be reconciled immediately.

The condition of one of the injured persons is critical, a civic official said.

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The incident occurred at platform number 1 around 2:45 AM when unreserved Bandra-Gorakhpur Antyodaya Express was “slowly moving” from the BDTS (Bandra Terminus) yard towards the platform before its scheduled departure at 5.10 am.

The platform was teeming with people eager to board the train that would take them to their native places in Uttar Pradesh for upcoming festivals.

According to the Western Railway (WR), the train was moving slowly from the yard towards the platform when several passengers made a dangerous attempt to board it. This led to injuries as two individuals fell while trying to climb aboard.

Prima facie, some individuals fell on the platform after colliding with the coaches or while trying to navigate the space between two coaches, railway sources said.

“Ideally, the doors of the coaches are opened only after the train comes to a complete stop at the platform, allowing passengers to board in an orderly queue,” a WR official stated.

Some passengers on the platform attempted to board the moving train, leading to an accident wherein two passengers fell and sustained injuries, said the WR’s statement issued around 10.30 am.

“The on-duty Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP), and Home Guard personnel quickly responded, taking the injured to Bhabha Government Hospital,” a WR statement said.

While the majority of the injured are reported to be in stable condition, two individuals are said to be in critical condition.

However, as per the Mumbai disaster control cell and a civic official, ten passengers were injured in the stampede.

Three out of the ten injured took discharge against medical advice, a civic official said in the evening.

Noor Mohammad Shaikh (18), who suffered multiple injuries, is critical with oxygen support. The update on another person, identified as Indrajit Sahani (19) who also suffered multiple injuries, is awaited.

Both patients are admitted at KEM Hospital, the official added.

In light of the stampede, the WR has urged passengers not to board or alight from moving trains.

“It is essential for the safety of all passengers that they wait for the train to come to a complete stop before boarding,” the WR added.

The WR is operating more than 130 festival special trains for various destinations, especially to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in view of the upcoming Diwali and Chhath festivals, it said in the statement.

In a separate video statement, WR’s chief public relations officer Vineet Abhishek said about 2.5 hours before the scheduled departure at 5.10 am, the train was being backed on the platform.

“Unfortunately, some passengers tried to board the train while it was moving, because of which they got injured,” he said.

Considering the festival season, the WR has issued a notification for 2,300 trips of special trains from Mumbai Central, Bandra, Valsad, Udhna and other stations on their network, the official said.

A special holding area has been created and extra ticketing counters have been set up for passengers, he added.

An adequate number of GRP and RPF personnel, along with ticketing staff, remain deployed at the stations to ensure smoother boarding of passengers at the railway stations. Also, the passengers are allowed to board the trains in queue as per the protocol, the WR said.

In the aftermath of the incident, videos surfaced on social media showing the chaos, including footage of injured passengers being assisted by railway officials and bystanders.

A video clip shows a person lying on a platform with a leg injury whereas other passengers are boarding the train without paying attention to him.

Separate videos show an RPF officer carrying an injured passenger on his shoulder and another RPF officer evacuating an injured person using a cloth as a (makeshift) stretcher assisted by some passengers.

In the wake of the stampede incident, the Central Railway and Western Railway imposed temporary restrictions on the sale of platform tickets at major stations to reduce festival crowding.

The CR said it would run two additional unreserved trains between CSMT and Gorakhapur for Diwali and Chhath.

The incident triggered sharp reactions from the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut who blamed it on the poor infrastructure.

Gandhi said the stampede was the latest example of India’s crumbling infrastructure.

“Inaugurations and publicity are acceptable only when the foundation behind them is about working for public good. When people lose their lives due to a lack of maintenance and neglect of public property and bridges, platforms or statues start crumbling after the ribbon cutting, it is a matter of serious concern,” he stated.

In a pointed attack, Raut said, “The railway minister is too involved with the bullet train project and people are left to die because of the poor infrastructure. He (railway minister) is disconnected with their problems”.

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