International News

MUMBAI, Sept 29, (APP/AFP) – A commuter stampede on
a Mumbai railway bridge during the morning rush hour Friday killed at least 22 people, officials said.
Dozens of people took shelter on the bridge during a sudden monsoon
downpour and the deadly crush started as they emerged all at once, Indian
Railways spokesman Anil Saxena said.
Avinash Supe, dean of KEM Hospital, told AFP there were 22 dead.
“There was a huge crowd on the FOB (foot overbridge). Everybody tried to leave at once and it appeared one of them slipped and fell, triggering the stampede,” Saxena told reporters.
The bridge connects the Elphinstone and Parel stations in south Mumbai.
The toll is likely to rise further, a disaster management cell spokesman warned. “It was the peak hour rush but the stampede has been brought under control,” Tanaji Kamble told AFP.
TV footage showed commuters trying to revive the injured by pumping their chests and also carrying some down stairs to street level.
“We put everybody who was injured in cars, police vans and ambulances and tried to take them to the hospital as quickly as possible,” said one witness.