4 dead, 9 injured after falling off local train near Mumbai

Mumbai: Four commuters died and nine were injured during the rush hour here on Monday morning after falling off a crowded local train as another local train coming from the opposite side 'brushed past' them following which they lost balance and fell.

The commuters were travelling on the footboard of the train headed for Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus while the other train was bound for Karjat

Commuters claimed that the distance between the two opposing tracks was close which led to the incident near Mumbra station.

Four commuters have been admitted in the ICU, while others suffered fractures due to the fall. Among the four who died was a Railway Police constable.

SEEKING ACCOUNTABILITY
The Maharashtra Opposition has called for the resignation of railway minister Ashwin Vaishnaw.

Incidentally, the MNS has claimed its party workers had been writing letters to the Railways pointing out to the narrow 'curve' of the two opposing tracks bringing trains dangerously close to each other but their complaints were ignored.

Train deaths in Mumbai are a regular occurrence due to overcrowding with an average 7-10 people dying on railway tracks every day.

"Almost 95%of the infrastructure has not been upgraded; all attention is on Vande Bharat Express which is just 5%of the total Railway train infra. There should be accountability for the incident and the railway minister should resign," said Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad.

Aaditya Thackeray of Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray Sena too slammed Vaishnav, calling him a 'reel minister'. "This is not the first time that such an incident has occurred. Over the past two to three years there have been several such incidents. However, no one has been made accountable."

Sharad Pawar who heads his own faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) took to social media to say that while overcrowding in local trains was an issue, there should be no attempt to blame the commuters for the accident.

Maharashtra BJP minister Girish Mahajan said CM Devendra Fadnavis has spoken to Vaishnaw and senior Railways officials to prevent such incidents in future.