15 killed in India at a stampede in Mumbai railway station

CAIRO – 29 September 2017: A rush hour stampede at a railway station in the Indian financial hub of Mumbai killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 20, a hospital official said, Reuters reported on Friday.

The cause of the stampede at the Elphinstone railway station amid a heavy downpour was being investigated, said a police official at the site of the accident. Reuters added.

Officials from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) disaster management have said that the incident occurred around 10.46 a.m. and 20-25 people are said to be injured in the incident, The Times of India stated on Friday.

#Elphinstone pic.twitter.com/Hixc2eWGkf

— रुबाबदार मराठा (@MarathiTw) ٢٩ سبتمبر، ٢٠١٧

Police said the stampede was triggered by a rumor that a pedestrian overpass collapsed after concrete chunks fell. Chaos ensued amid a heavy rainfall as people surged forward to leave the bridge, The Independent mentioned on Friday.

Deadly stampedes are fairly common during Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with few safety or crowd control measures, The Independent added.

The hashtag “#‎Elphinstone” trends Twitter worldwide with 7,275 tweets, where people are expressing sorrow for the deaths occurred, their anger from the bad situations of local train stations in India, and even its is used by police to announce the need for blood to those who got injured.

A -ve, B -ve and AB -ve blood is required in KEM hospital for those injured in #Elphinstone stampede . Please contact the blood bank at KEM

— Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) ٢٩ سبتمبر، ٢٠١٧

Really angry with what happened in #Elphinstone. We have done so many complaints, filed RTIs, regarding crowding on FOBs. No response.

— Rushabh Mehta (@rushabh_mehta) ٢٩ سبتمبر، ٢٠١٧

Tragedy waiting to happen #Elphinstone. All local stations in dire need of repairs and expansion. Please help the injured and affected.

— Mayank Gandhi (@mayankgandhi04) ٢٩ سبتمبر، ٢٠١٧