9 injured in stampede amid festive rush at Mumbai's Bandra railway station

Nine persons were injured in a stampede after rush for boarding a Gorakhpur-bound train at Bandra railway station in Mumbai on Sunday, civic and disaster control officials here said.

The Western Railway, meanwhile, in a statement said two persons were injured in the incident.

In view of the upcoming Diwali and Chhath festivals, a large number of people planning to go to their native places had reached the Bandra Terminus where several passengers rushed to board the unreserved train when it was being brought on a platform, according to sources.

The incident took place when people rushed to board train 22921 Bandra-Gorakhpur Antyodaya Express on platform no.1 at the Bandra Terminus, the civic official said.

The Western Railway said the incident occurred at 2.45 am on platform number one of the Bandra Terminus when the Antyodaya Express was “slowly moving” from the BDTS (Bandra Terminus) yard towards the platform.

“During this time, some passengers on the platform attempted to board the moving train, leading to an accident where two passengers fell and got injured,” said the WR's statement issued around 10.30 am.

“The on-duty RPF, GRP, and Home Guard officers promptly acted and admitted the injured passengers to the nearby Bhabha Government Hospital,” the statement said, adding that the injured passengers are currently in stable condition.

However, as per the Mumbai disaster control cell and a civic official, nine passengers were injured in the stampede at the busy outstation train terminus when a large number of passengers tried to board the unreserved train.

Those injured have been identified as Shabhir Abdul Rehman (40), Parmeshwar Sukhdar Gupta (28), Ravindra Harihar Chuma (30), Ramsevak Ravindra Prasad Prajapati (29), Sanjay Tilakram Kangay (27), Divyanshu Yogendra Yadav (18), Mohammad Shareef Shaikh (25), Indrajith Sahani (19) and Noor Mohammad Shaikh (18), the civic official said.

Shahani and Noor Mohammad Sheikh were in critical condition and undergoing treatment at the Bhabha Hospital, a police official said.

The Western Railway urged the passengers not to board or alight a moving train, as it is dangerous.

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 another 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.

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

He also said they have created a special holding area and set up extra ticketing counters for the passengers.

An adequate number of Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel along with ticketing staff remains deployed on the stations, to ensure smoother boarding of passengers at the railway stations. Also, they are allowed to board the trains in queue as per the protocol, the WR said.

Meanwhile, some purported videos of the incident went viral on social media and one clip showed a person with a leg injury lying on a platform and other passengers boarding the train without paying attention to him.

In one video, an RPF officer was seen carrying an injured passenger on his shoulder, while another clip showed an RPF officer along with some passengers carrying an injured person using a cloth as (makeshift) stretcher.

According to sources, in the attempt to board the train, some people fell on the platform when they came in between two coaches.

Prima facie, the people fell on the platform after colliding with the coaches or in the space between two coaches, the sources said.

“Ideally, doors of the coaches are opened after the train makes a halt at the platform and passengers then board in a queue,” a WR source said.

The RPF personnel and local people immediately rushed the injured persons to the Bhabha Hospital.