Stampede at Indian train station kills at least 21 people

File picture: Rafiq Maqbool/AP

File picture: Rafiq Maqbool/AP

Published Sep 29, 2017

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New Delhi - A stampede at a train station in India's west coast city of Mumbai killed 21 people during the morning rush on Friday, police said.

Another 20 people were injured when panicked pedestrians pushed forward to the end of an overcrowded bridge, with some people falling underfoot and being trampled, city police officer Rajaram Patel said.

People were huddling under the canopy covering the bridge to escape heavy rains, making the deadly tragedy worse, said lawmaker Shaina Nana Chudasama of the governing Bhartiya Janata Party.

Police said the stampede was triggered by a rumor that a pedestrian bridge collapsed after concrete chunks fell. Chaos prevailed as people surged forward to leave the bridge.

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

AP

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