Mumbai railway station stampede kills 22 and injures 32

Chaos prevails as rumour spreads bridge is collapsing, say police

A man injured during the footbridge stampede is taken to hospital (Reuters)

At least 22 people died and 32 were injured in a stampede on a footbridge at a railway station in Mumbai, authorities said.

Police official Gansham Patel said some falling concrete had hit part of the bridge railing, leading people to surge forward out of panic at the thought that the bridge was collapsing.

Heavy rains meant the bridge – which connects the two commuter railway stations Elphinstone and Parel – was even more crowded than usual, as some sought shelter from the downpour under the canopy, said lawmaker Shaina Nana Chudasama of the governing Bhartiya Janata Party.

Hospitals treated 32 injured people, including 19 women and 13 men.


 Policemen inspect the site of a stampede (Reuters)
 (REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade)

"There were too many people on the bridge, and the people were in hurry and wanted to move out," said Brijesh Upadhyay, who was caught in the throng. "There was nobody helping, it was very suffocating, and we just wanted to get out of there – and fell on each other."

One rescuer told Indian broadcaster NDTV that the stampede trapped dozens in the narrow passage, forcing rescuers to break the railing to pull people out.

The King Edward Memorial Hospital called for blood donations to help treat the victims, saying there was a shortage of A negative, B negative and AB negative blood.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a Twitter post: "My deepest condolences to all those who have lost their lives due to the stampede in Mumbai. Prayers with those who are injured."

He added that Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was in Mumbau "taking stock of the situation and ensuring all assistance".

Deadly stampedes are fairly common during Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with few safety or crowd control measures.

India's ageing transport system has long been criticised for being ill-suited for the number of people using it.

In October 2013, a stampede in Madhya Pradesh state in central India killed more than 110 people, mostly women and children.