Stampede: Uddhav visits KEM Hosp, says what happened is bad

Mumbai, Sep 29 (PTI) As his party Shiv Sena mounted a stinging attack on the government over the Mumbai railway foot overbridge tragedy today, Uddhav Thackeray visited the KEM hospital where bodies of

Mumbai, Sep 29 (PTI) As his party Shiv Sena mounted a stinging attack on the government over the Mumbai railway foot overbridge tragedy today, Uddhav Thackeray visited the KEM hospital where bodies of the 22 deceased have been kept.

“Whatever happened is very bad…I will look into it,” he said when a man persistently wanted him to do something following the tragedy.

At least 22 people were killed and over 30 injured in a rush hour stampede on a narrow foot overbridge (FOB) linking Elphinstone Road and Parel suburban stations during heavy rain this morning. Some of the injured are also admitted to the hospital.

Thackeray was responding to persistent demand by Vikrant Kadam, a former government servant, who followed the Sena president since the time he entered the premises of the hospital, run by Shiv Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), to do something to ensure such disasters do not happen again.

While walking alongside Thackeray, Kadam kept on repeating, “Sir, this is bad. You need to do something, you need to do something.”

His persistence caught Thackeray’s attention and he said with folded hands, “Whatever happened is very bad…I will look into it.”

Thackeray said he would not make any other comment or blame anyone at this point.

Meanwhile, some workers of Aaditya Thackeray-led Yuva Sena, the youth wing of Shiv Sena, raised slogans against Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on hospital premises and demanded his resignation.

When asked about the protest, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar said, “I am expecting some maturity at this moment. Whoever is wrong can be identified later…not at this time and not inside the hospital premises. Such things should be discussed first.”

This is published unedited from the PTI feed.