Railway staff couldn’t get past crowd to help victims

Mumbai: The stationmaster, RPF personnel and railway staff, who were the first respondents after Friday’s stampede at the Parel-Elphinstone Road FOB, were questioned at Mumbai Central railway headquarters for the second consecutive day, wherein they said that they never got close enough to help the stampede victims.

The enquiry was ordered by union railway minister Piyush Goyal, who was supposed to attend the first official programme in the city, which included cutting the to inaugurate 60 new services on both Central and Western railway. According to an official, “The booking office staff could not open the door to get out and help on that day because there were so many people behind the door that they couldn’t even open the door.” The official added, “The booking office is right at the top of the stairs where the stampede took place. But they have said they could even open the door by an inch.”

The booking office staff then made a desperate call to the stationmaster, who called the RPF and GRP personnel, and got out to help himself. “The station master could not help and neither could the GRP and RPF officials help as no one could get past the crowd. They couldn’t even see what exactly was happening in order to give a clear picture on exactly what happened on that bridge,” said the official.

The enquiry will now be taken into the homes of the injured as well as those who are still recuperating at KEM for now. Another official said, “There is still no clarity on what exactly happened on that FOB.”

On September 29, 23 persons died on the foot over-bridge between Elphinstone Road and Parel stations in a stampede. The bridge connects the two stations on the Western and Central Lines respectively.