5 dead, several injured as pedestrian bridge collapses in Mumbai

News agency reported injured people had been moved hospitals after the bridge collapsed near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus

Five people died and more than 30 were injured when part of a pedestrian bridge that last year was certified safe collapsed near Mumbai’s main railway station Thursday evening.

More than a dozen people were pulled out from the debris of the bridge near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus during rush hour, India Today TV news channel reported.

“I and passersby pulled out people from a taxi over which the bridge had fallen,” an unidentified man told the TV channel.

The Mumbai Police identified two of the dead as Apoorva Prabhu, 35, Ranjana Tambe, 40. The Railways said in a statement the bridge belonged to city’s municipal corporation, reported news agency.

Photo: Kamlesh Pednekar

"A structural audit last year had declared the bridge safe. We will find out if this audit was correctly done. This is a serious incident,” said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
 

He announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the dead and Rs 50,000 for those injured.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter he was "deeply anguished".

In September 2017, a stampede on a pedestrian bridge at the Elphinstone Road railway station in the city killed more than 22 people.

Authorities had ordered inspections of all railways bridges—many of which were built during the colonial era—for safety.