The high risk to life involved in travelling during crush hour in Mumbai's local trains was yet again tragically underscored on Monday morning when commuters travelling on two vastly overcrowded trains going in opposite directions dashed against each other and fell on the tracks resulting in the death of four and injuries to nine others. The fact that the passengers of the two trains brushed against each other showed the extent of overcrowding in the morning peak hour.
According to the Government Railway Police (GRP), two fast local trains—one bound for Karjat and another for CSMT from Kasara—were crossing each other on a curvature near Mumbra. Due to overcrowding and force from within the coaches, passengers standing on the footboards of the Kasara local collided with passengers on the Karjat local, leading to several commuters falling off the trains. It is shocking that Central Railway, which is well aware of overcrowing during peak hours, had not factored in the possibility of such an incident taking place at the curvature.
Vijay Sharma, an eyewitness said, "I could'nt believe my eyes when I saw the passengers simply falling off the trains. I have been travelling in local trains for the past 20 years, but never saw such a freak accident. It looked so unreal."
The gory incident occurred around 9:01 AM near Mumbra railway station. The Railways have ordered an inquiry into the matter.
The deceased have been identified as Ketan Dilip Saroj (23), a resident of Ulhasnagar, Rahul Santosh Gupta (27) of Diva, Vicky Babasaheb Mukhyadal (34), a GRP constable and resident of Kalyan and Mayur Shah (43), a resident of Ghodbunder in ThaneThe injured, who were admitted to the government-run Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital, Kalwa have been identified as Shiva Gawli (23) and Adesh Bhoir (26), both residents of Aatgaon, Rihan Shaikh (26), a resident of Bhiwandi, Anil More (40), Tushar Bhagat (22) and Manish Saroj (26), residents of Diva, Machindra Gotarane (39), of Vashind, Sneha Dhondhe (21) and Priyanka Bhatia (26).
Out of the injured, Gawli and More were critically hurt and were shifted to Jupiter Hospital in Thane for further treatment. The Thane Railway Police have registered cases of accidental death and injury. Further investigation is underway, with GRP officials recording statements of the injured and eyewitnesses. It is not clear if C.Rly fix responsibility on any of its officials for the accident.
Sudhakar Shirsat, assistant commissioner of police, GRP (In-charge), Thane, stated that the incident occurred between Platforms 03 and 04. A total of 13 passengers from both trains fell off due to the collision between individuals standing on the footboards. The trains involved were the CSMT–Karjat Down Fast Local and the Kasara–CSMT Up Fast Local.Eyewitnesses corroborated the same.
"Due to the excessive crowd and the force of passengers inside the coach on the curve between Mumbra and Diva railway stations, a Karjat-bound train was passing while the Kasara-CSMT train was also crossing the same section. As a result, some passengers of the Kasara-CSMT train collided with the passing train and fell onto the track," said Shailesh Jaiswal, a friend of injured commuter Manish Saroj.
Sources stated that the incident occurred due to overcrowding after the train left Diva station, with many passengers hanging near the doors, intending to alight at Thane. The force of the crowd from inside the compartment led to some door-side passengers being pushed out and brushed by the other passing train on the adjacent track.
However, a senior officer of Central Railway blamed footboard travel for the incident. According to railway officials, prima facie it appears that all four deceased were traveling on the footboard. The exact reason will only be confirmed after the inquiry is completed. The Karjat local was running in the non-peak direction. Therefore, the possibility of direct collision between passengers of both trains seems minimal, as the distance between up and down tracks is adequate and conforms to standard railway norms, the official claimed.
A family member of one of the deceased stated that he was alerted by co-passengers, while most others were informed by the railway administration and local police. Heavy police security was deployed at the hospital.Heavy police security was deployed at the hospital.
Meanwhile, political leaders including MP Shrikant Shinde, MLA Ravindra Chavan, MLC Niranjan Davkhare, MLA Jitendra Awhad, and Minister Girish Mahajan rushed to the site and took stock of the situation.
