Over 22 (and counting) people have died and 35 injured in a stampede at the Elphinstone railway station in a tragic incident. Medical teams have reached the spot and those injured, rushed to KEM hospital. Commuters claimed that the foot-over bridge at Elphinstone was narrow and always crowded. Videos of the incident emerged on the internet, and people could be seen trying to climb over railings of the stairway to escape the stampede.
The stampede took place on a foot overbridge at the Parel Railway Station connecting Elphinstone Road and Parel suburban stations. Reports said heavy rain forced commuters to take shelter at the foot overbridge, and when the train arrived, people rushed to board it, leading to the unfortunate incident. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has reached Mumbai, following the mayhem. He said they have also issued directions for safety and capacity audit of foot over bridges in Mumbai where congestion occurs on a massive scale. He said wherever there is a need for foot over bridges to be widened, it will be done immediately on high priority.
Goyal has also announced that ex gratia of Rs 5 Lakh will be given by the state government and Rs 5 Lakh by the Railways to families of the deceased people. He promised to bear costs for the injured people, grievously injured to get Rs 1 Lakh, minor injured to get Rs 50,000 ex gratia. The station is always known to be jam packed as it is used by people who want to interchange between Central and Western Railway stations. During work hours, there are over hundred commuters on the bridge at a time. KEM hospital officials said that some more people have been injured in the incident and the fatalites could go up. Passenger associations have been asking for a bigger railway bridge for more than two decades now.
