Two commuters, including a teenager, died and two more were injured, after they fell on the tracks between Sion and Matunga stations during the Thursday morning peak hours.
GRP officers said that the incident could be a fallout of heavy-rush, as the victims were leaning from the door and might have lost balance. All of them were travelling on the Kalyan-CST Up local.
Uday Prakash Sharma (31), security guard from Kalyan was the first to fall down, and sustained injuries on his thigh. Three others Satish Meravala (16), a student, who was on his way to appear for his SSC exams in Parel, construction labourer Kedar Yadav (33) and electrician Zia Ul Rasool also fell after him. Meravala and Yadav succumbed to their head injuries at Sion Hospital. The other two victims are admitted in the emergency ward of the hospital and are on ventilator support.
The fifth person, Kanhaiya Yadav (26), also sustained minor injuries, but did not fall off. He was discharged after
being administered first aid.
A senior Central Railway (CR) officer, who went to the spot and also met the victims said, “The first one who fell (Uday) was leaning out of the door and was being pushed further by the heavy-crowd inside. He was mentally prepared and made sure to land on his knees. However, the three others fell on their head.”
A CR press release stated, “Apart from extreme overcrowding there is no other apparent cause of this incident.” The incident was reminiscent of the passenger deaths between Nahur and Mulund stations in April this year, when three young passengers were killed and 25 others were injured, after being hit by a metal particle of a signal pole that gave away and came precariously closer to the doors of the suburban trains.