Death toll in stampede rises to 23, Goyal promises safety

The death toll in the stampede on a foot overbridge (FOB) linking two railway stations here rose to 23 today with one critically injured person succumbing at the KEM hospital, its dean said.
With the tragedy raising concerns of safety, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal convened a full board meeting of Railway officials here to address the safety issues and work out urgent measures.
Dean Avinash Supe said Satyendrakumar Kanojia, who was in his late forties, died today.
"The patient was put on ventilator as soon as he was admitted to the hospital. We tried to save him but he succumbed to internal injuries," he told PTI.

The tragedy took place yesterday around 10.40 am when the overbridge, linking Elphinstone Road and Parel suburban stations, became overcrowded with people taking shelter from a heavy downpour.
Goyal, who has held a series of meetings with top officials since yesterday, announced in tweets that FOBs would now be a "mandatory" aspect of railway's working, which it was earlier considered as only an 'amenity'.

"We are turning a 150-year-old convention on its head, hereafter, FOBs (Foot Over Bridges) will be deemed mandatory not a passenger amenity," he tweeted.
In order to check delays in execution of projects and red tape, he said the general managers of railway zones have been entrusted with power to spend on works to ensure passenger safety.

Goyal had earlier announced that a multi-disciplinary auditing of all suburban stations will be done within one week and identify areas of concern.
"To eliminate bureaucracy and delays, I have empowered GMs to spend whatever is necessary on safety," he tweeted.
"Work on FOBs in progress will be completed on war footing. Additional FOBs will be immediately planned at other stations where passenger traffic is also high," he said.
Meanwhile, the tragedy continued to generate political heat with the Shiv Sena and the MNS finding fault with the Centre's priorities on railway development and sought to know the need for spending a whopping amount for the bullet train.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray said stampedes in Mumbai, like the one yesterday, will continue to occur till hordes of migrants continue to pour into the city.
"There has been a collapse of infrastructure facilities due to the migrant influx from other regions," he told reporters here.
"Does one need a bullet train or improvement of basic rail infrastructure," he asked.
"Until present infrastructure of local railways is made better, not a single brick will be allowed to be placed for the bullet train in Mumbai," Raj said.
The Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP but known for its aggressive posturing against the government, took a swipe at the ambitious bullet train project from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, saying, "what is the use of the bullet train when you cannot provide basic infrastructure to local commuters?"

Meanwhile, bodies of 17 people have been handed over to their relatives so far, said KEM hospital authorities. The railways employees joined the city in mourning the tragedy by not celebrating Dussehra festival.
Late last night, Mumbaikars took out a candle march on the Elphinstone railway bridge and prayed for the departed souls.