Stampede at Bandra terminus: Chaos and crowds collide amid festive rush, nine injured

Chaos and cacophony reigned at Western Railway's heavily-patronised Bandra Terminus on Sunday morning after a mass of people tried to board a moving train to reach their native places for Diwali and Chhath, leaving nine injured, many becoming the subject of harrowing social media videos. 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 number 1 from Bandra Terminus yard.

While scheduled departure of the 22-coach train was at 5:10am, officials said during such festival rush passengers often scurry to occupy seats as quickly as possible since there is no reservation. Videos that flooded social media since morning showed people running and shouting, and some passengers injured and bloodied. One video showed a man with blood oozing out of his wounds, while another injured passenger lay next to him. Shockingly, several people were seen boarding the compartment even as a passenger with a leg injury lay by the door.

Another video doing the rounds of social media showed a Railway Protection Force constable carrying an injured passenger on his shoulder, while another personnel was seen ferrying a passenger to the hospital in a makeshift cloth stretcher. Amid the chaos, local residents and those present on other platforms were also seen in several videos helping the injured persons.

Incidentally, civic officials said nine persons were injured and identified them 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. Police said Sahani and Noor Mohammad Shaikh had been rushed to nearby Bhabha Hospital in a critical condition. However, a statement from Western Railway said two persons were injured.

The statement also informed that 130 festival special trains were being run to various destinations, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in view of the upcoming Diwali and Chhath festivals. In all, these special trains will make 2,300 trips from Mumbai Central and Bandra in the metropolis, as well as Valsad and Udhna in neighbouring Gujarat, the WR statement added.

Nine persons were injured, including two critically, in a stampede after rush for boarding a Gorakhpur-bound train at Bandra railway station in Mumbai on Sunday morning, officials said. In view of the upcoming Diwali and Chhath festivals, a large number of people planning to go to their native places had reached the Bandra Terminus where several passengers rushed to board the unreserved train when it was being brought on a platform, according to sources.

The incident was reported at 5.56 am, a civic official said, adding a large number of people had gathered to board train 22921 Bandra-Gorakhpur Antyodaya Express on platform no.1 at the Bandra Terminus. Due to the upcoming Diwali and Chhath festivals, the north-bound trains have been running packed from Mumbai. The empty Antyodaya Express, having all 22 general class coaches, "was being backed on platform no.1" at around 2.45 am, as per the railway sources.

Things got out of hand when passengers, who had queued up while waiting for the train, tried to board it when it was taken on the platform from the yard with doors of the coaches locked from inside, they said. In the attempt to board the train, some people fell on the platform when they came in between two coaches. Prima facie, the people fell on the platform after colliding with the coaches or in the space between two coaches, the sources said. "Ideally, doors of the coaches are opened after the train makes a halt at the platform and passengers then board in a queue," a WR source said. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and local people immediately rushed the injured persons to the Bhabha Hospital.

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), a civic official said. Shahani and Noor Mohammad Sheikh were in critical condition and undergoing treatment at the hospital, a police official said. Western Railway's chief spokesperson Vineet Abhishek could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts and there was no official statement so far from the WR's public relations department. Following the incident, the Antyodaya Express left for its journey from the Bandra Terminus almost at the scheduled time.