PTI, KOLKATA: Two persons were killed and 17 injured in a stampede on a foot overbridge at Santragachi railway station in West Bengal on Tuesday evening after announcements were made about simultaneous arrival of trains on platforms connected by the overbridge.
The incident occurred at around 6.30 pm between platform numbers two and three at Santragachi station in Howrah when Nagercoil-Shalimar Express and two EMU locals arrived there around the same time and passengers rushed to the platforms to board the trains, South Eastern Railway spokesman Sanjay Ghosh said.
Shalimar-Vishakhapatnam Express and Santragachi-Chennai Express were also scheduled to arrive shortly, Ghosh said.
A large number of passengers had deboarded and many others were trying to reach their trains at the same time, leading to rush on the foot overbridge that connected the platforms.
“Two persons have died in the stampede at Santragachi this evening,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the station after the incident, said.
State minister Arup Roy said that 17 others were injured in the incident, of whom some were in a serious condition and were being treated at Howrah General Hospital.
Railway officials, however, said that 12 persons were injured.
