MUMBAI: Two people were killed and three others seriously injured near Sandhurst Road railway station in South Mumbai on Thursday evening, an incident that occurred shortly after Central Railway (CR) suburban services were paralyzed by a flash strike from employees protesting legal action against two engineers.
The tragedy struck around 7 pm when a down fast local train hit five individuals near Sandhurst Road. According to a railway official, the victims – three women and a man had reportedly alighted from an up slow local after services were halted by the protest and were walking on the tracks from the wrong side.
“Two persons were brought dead to the hospital, while three were injured,” an official stated. “Of these, two took discharge against medical advice (DAMA), while one is currently undergoing treatment.”
Protest Halts Rush Hour Traffic
The immediate cause of the disruption was a spontaneous protest staged by railway employees’ unions at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), which effectively halted suburban operations between 5:50 pm and 6:45 pm, coinciding with the peak evening rush hour.
The protest was a direct response to an FIR lodged against two Central Railway engineers in connection with the fatal June 9 Mumbra accident that claimed the lives of four people. The flash strike led to massive overcrowding and chaos, forcing many outstation passengers at Thane to use long-distance trains as substitutes for Kalyan-bound locals, a situation necessitating alternate travel arrangements from railway officials.
Services only resumed after senior CR officials provided assurances to the protesting employees that the matter concerning the booked engineers would be escalated with state authorities.
The engineers were booked under Section 125(a)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for allegedly endangering life or personal safety, following the June 9 Mumbra incident. That crash occurred when two trains passed each other on a sharp curve, resulting in commuters who were traveling on the footboards falling from the train after their backpacks brushed against each other.
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