Elphinstone stampede: Passengers lose lives during morning rush hour

On Friday morning, an unfortunate and horrific stampede occurred at around 10:30 am, during morning rush hour amid a heavy downpour on a foot-over bridge in Mumbai's Elphinstone station, which connects two of the city's major local lines. While, many family members mourn the death of their loved ones

Before the incident took place, office-goers had gathered on the foot-over bridge connecting Elphinstone and Parel stations, where the  stampede took place. At least 22 passengers were killed and 39 were injured in a stampede at Mumbai’s Elphinstone railway station, amongst which was Richard Fernandes’s wife Theresa.

Richard Fernandes, a Dadar resident  lost his 39-year-old wife Theresa. The couple has a nine month old baby and a 7 year old son. His wife worked at Phoenix mall in Lower Parel. She had just battled and come out of post-partum depression.

While surfing on the internet, Richard was shocked to find out about the horrific incident, after which, he immediately rushed to the station. But to his dismay, he found his wife among the other casualties and she was gone forever.

Similarly , a 20-year-old  Uttar Pradesh migrant Mukesh, who had come to work in Mumbai, lost his life due to the stampede at Elphinstone station. Deceased Mukesh worked at a garment store in Sion and lived in Dadar with his parents and was the sole earning member in his family. His neighbour Avinash Mishra rushed to  KEM Hospital to identify his body.

In another incident relating to the stampede, Shakeel Ahmed, a 33-year-old Mumbra resident lost his life in the rush-hour stampede. Shakeel was a daily wage worker in a garment store in Dadar.Shaikh Sadeeq, Shakeel’s brother said, “He had left home at around 9:15 am, to go to Dadar. But today, instead of getting down at Dadar, he went to Elphinstone and lost his life.”