Mumbai:
At least nine persons were injured in a stampede at Bandra Terminus Station in Mumbai on Sunday, said officials, adding that the incident occurred at 5.56 am on platform number one, ahead of the departure of Bandra-Gorakhpur Express.
All the injured persons were rushed to a hospital where they are receiving treatment. The condition of the seven people is stable, while two others have sustained critical injuries, according to reports.
The visuals from the Bandra Station showed a huge rush of people with several lying on the floor and benches with injuries. The Railway Police and other passengers were seen helping the injured people onto stretchers.
What Led To The Stampede?
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that the stampede broke out in the wake of the festive rush ahead of Diwali. A huge crowd of passengers rushed to board train 22921 Bandra-Gorakhpur Express, leading to a stampede, they said.
“Today morning, at Bandra Terminus, when 22921 Bandra-Gorakhpur Antyoday Express, whose departure time is 5.15 am, was taken to the platform from the yard at 2.44 am, some passengers tried to board the train while it was still moving,” said Western Railway CPRO Vineet Abhishek.
Reports claimed that the majority of the passengers waiting to board the train at Bandra Terminus had no reservations and were eager to occupy seats as soon as the train arrived.
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 official said.
Bandra Terminus, also known as Vandre Terminus, is a railway terminus located in Bandra, Maharashtra, serving regular trains to northern and western India. Established in the 1990s to alleviate congestion at the main Mumbai Central station, it is one of five railway terminus in Greater Mumbai.
Politics Erupt Over Stampede
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut targeted Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday over the stampede at Bandra station here, claiming he was too busy with the bullet train project while passengers in Mumbai were being ignored.
Raut said, “Mumbai city gives maximum revenue to the Union government. Compared to it, we hardly get any facilities here for passengers.” “The railway minister is too involved with the bullet train project and people are left to die because of the poor infrastructure as the railway minister is disconnected with their problems,” he claimed.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, aimed at significantly reducing the travel time between the two cities, is currently under construction.
Another Shiv Sena (UBT) leader slammed Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and said it is shameful that the country has “incapable ministers” at the helm.
Taking to X, party leader and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya said the incident reflects “incapable” the minister is. “Wish the reel minister was a rail minister for once. The incident at Bandra only reflects how incapable the current Railways Minister is. The BJP has made Ashwini Vaishnav ji a Prabhari for BJP Maharashtra for elections, but every week there are some incidents and accidents that occur with the railways. Such a shame that our country has been forced under such incapable ministers,” he said.
(source:news18)
