Elphinstone station stampede: 22 dead, 39 injured, Piyush Goyal announces ex-gratia

Elphinstone Road is a railway station on the Western line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway in Mumbai.

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has ordered a high-level enquiry into the stampede incident at Elphinstone railway station in which 22 people were killed, including four women. Also, 39 people have been injured.

An Accidental Death Report (ADR) under section 174 of CRPC has been registered at Dadar Police Station.

Piyush Goyal ordered a high level enquiry headed by the Chief Safety Officer of Western Railways. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Minister Vinod Tawde announced compensation of 5 Lakhs each to kin of those dead. He also said that state Government will bear medical expenses of the injured.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is in Singapore for an investor interaction, added in a tweet that an inquiry would be conducted by the Maharashtra government and the Ministry of Railways and necessary strict action would be taken.

The medical expenses of the injured would be borne by the state government, he added.

The stampede took place at around 11 am. Reports suggest that heavy rains triggered the stampede. Accident relief and medical equipment have been made available for affected people. The injured have been taken to KEM hospital.

Dr Pravin Bangar, Senior Medical Officer at KEM Hospital, said 15 people were declared brought dead.

Meanwhile, a shortage of blood in KEM Hospital has been reported. The hospital requested for B negative and AB negative blood groups. The Mumbai police has issued an appeal to donate blood.

Helpline numbers

Mumbai Elphonstone tragedy: 022- 24136051, 24107020, 24131419

Helpline numbers: Churchgate station- 22039840, Mumbai Central station- 23051665 and Elphinstone Road station- 24301614

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences for the death of 22 people. PM assured that the situation in Mumbai is being continuously monitored.

Niket Kaushik, GRP Commissioner, said "Of the injured 20 people have serious injuries, rest have minor injuries. Can't comment more right now."

Railway officials said that the stampede occurred to due overcrowding and heavy rainfall. "It is not a bridge collapse. Both the Railway Police Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) are on the spot,'' said a senior railway official.

Elphinstone Road is a railway station on the Western line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway in Mumbai. The station has two platforms, on which only slow trains halt. A footbridge links Elphinstone to Parel station on the Central Line.

In a video shared on social media, people can be seen clambering on the bridge.

OneIndia News