Mumbai: Police personnel, passengers and others at Bandra railway station after a stampede, in Mumbai, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: At least 10 people were injured in a stampede at the Bandra Terminus in Mumbai in the wee hours of Sunday, sparking off a political row in poll-bound Maharashtra.
Amid a rush for North India-bound trains in view of Diwali and Chhath, the incident took place around 2:45 am when passengers rushed to board the unreserved 22921 Bandra-Gorakhpur Antyodaya Express while it was moving into Platform No. 1 from Bandra Terminus yard.
The scheduled departure of the train was at 5.10 am.
Shocking videos of the incident surfaced on social media platforms, showing complete chaos and confusion and people running helter-skelter.
Top officials of the Western Railway and the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation rushed to the spot in the aftermath of the incident.
The injured persons were 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).
Sahani and Noor Mohammad Shaikh had been rushed to nearby Bhabha Hospital in a critical condition, according to Mumbai Police and BMC.
As the dust settled, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) hit out at the ruling Maha Yuti and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Leader of the Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar said: “The number of railway accidents has increased in the last few years. Now accidents have started happening at the railway station as well. Is the ‘Reel Minister’ of the BJP government going to wake up?”
NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said: “The stampede at Bandra Terminus while people boarding the Bandra-Gorakhpur Express shows yet another failure of the Railways Ministry and 'Reel Minister’ Ashwini Vaishnav. Lack of enough trains during festive season and also failure of the local administration has led to this mishap.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut said that the Railway Minister was too busy with the bullet train project while passengers in Mumbai were being ignored. “People are left to die because of the poor infrastructure as the railway minister is disconnected with their problems,” he said.