Mumbai railway station stampede kills 22, injures 35

WORLD (New Delhi ) : At least 22 people have been killed and 35 injured in a stampede at a train station during Friday morning rush hour in the Indian financial hub of Mumbai, according to Deepak Deoraj, spokesman for the Mumbai police department, CNN reported. The death toll was likely to rise, a disaster management spokesman warned, with several of the injured undergoing treatment in hospitals in the city.

The deadly stampede happened around 10:30 a.m. local time on a footbridge at Prabhadevi train station. Commuters thought the bridge they were on was going to collapse when a chunk of concrete hit the railing, causing them to all surge forward. According to authorities, many of them had been crowding under a canopy covering the bridge to escape heavy rains, which made matters worse. “The incident occurred as heavy rains lashed Mumbai and passengers took refuge on the foot overbridge,” Indian Railways spokesman Ravindra Bhakar said. According to Skynews, people at the front slipped and the huge crowd toppled over leading to the stampede. Trains were briefly halted and a formal inquiry has been ordered into the tragedy.