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Dozens killed in rush hour stampede at Mumbai train station

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MUMBAI: A rush hour stampede killed at least 22 people and wounded 36 yesterday during a sudden monsoon downpour at a busy railway station in India's commercial hub of Mumbai, government and emergency officials said.

The cause of the stampede on a tiny bridge at the central Elphinstone Road station is being investigated, a police official at the accident site said.

"Some of the injured are in serious condition," Mr Deepak Sawant, the health minister of the western state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, said at a hospital where the injured were taken.

The stampede, at a station recently renamed Prabhadevi, took place after the cloudburst caught commuters off guard, sending scores scurrying for cover under a pedestrian overhead bridge, said Mr Akash Koteja, who was one of the injured. "Trains were rolling in and some people wanted to get out of the station, but others were not making way. When a few tried, it led to a stampede," Mr Koteja said.

The bridge is usually crowded at that time, as it also provides an exit route for passengers disembarking at an adjoining station, he added. - REUTERS

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