No structural damage to foot overbridge, rains caused accident, says Western Railways

Mumbai witnessed a bloody morning today with 22 people killed in a stampede on a footbridge that connects the Parel railway station with Elphinstone Road station.

While the reason behind the stampede has not yet been confirmed, the police said that the stampede was triggered by a rumor that a pedestrian overpass had collapsed after concrete chunks fell.

The Western Railways in a note said that unprecedented rains caught people unawares. "As people weren't prepared for rains, sudden rain made people from approach road to take shelter at FOB and at staircase," WR said.

Prima facie rumours like falling of FOB led ppl to panic,leading to tremendous push from behind twrds exit leading to stampede, it added.

There was no structural damage to the foot over bridge, which can be attributed to the stampede, Western Railways told ANI.

"FOB is 5 meters wide and 32 meters long having dual exits, ie, North and South at the place of incident. New 12 meter long FOB at north end parallel to this bridge already sanctioned connecting WR and CR along with East-west connectivity," it added.

The statement further said that the platforms at Elphinstone Road Station are also planned to be extended with construction of the new FOB.

It also added that tender has already been floated for the construction of the FOB.

After the stampede, it came to light that 22 people would have been alive today but for the delay in the construction of an additional foot overbridge which was already sanctioned by the Railway Ministry.

An additional foot overbridge had already been sanctioned for and tender was floated for the same. Rs 9.5 Crore was sanctioned by Railway Ministry for the project.

OneIndia News