2 dead, 17 hurt in stampede at Bengal station

Kolkata, October 23

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 the 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 de-boarded and many others were trying to reach their trains at the same time, leading to rush on the foot overbridge.  — PTI