Two dead, 14 injured in stampede at railway station in Kolkata

KOLKATA: At least two people have been killed in a stampede on a foot overbridge at Santragachi railway station in West Bengal on Tuesday evening, according to railway officials. 14 people have been injured in the incident.

The incident occurred when an express train and two EMU locals arrived at the station at the same time at around 6.30pm and passengers rushed to the platforms to board the trains, he said.

The Nagercoil-Shalimar Express and two EMU locals arrived at the station at the same time, while Shalimar-Vishakhapatnam Express and Santragachi-Chennai Express were scheduled to come shortly, SER spokesman Sanjay Ghosh said.

The incident occurred between platform numbers two and three at Santragachi station of South Eastern Railway, about 10 km from Howrah station, he said.

A large number of passengers either deboarded or were waiting to board trains at the same time, leading to a rush on the foot overbridge.

While 11 injured people were taken to Howrah General Hospital for treatment, three others were administered first aid at the station, he said.

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the accident spot and Howrah State General Hospital as well and declared a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh each for those injured in the mishap.