Mumbai CST Overbridge Was Used While Being Repaired: Eyewitness

Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam

At least four people died and 34 were left injured after a foot overbridge near CST station in south Mumbai collapsed on Thursday, 14 March. The bridge connected the bustling Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station with the Azad Maidan Police Station.

Recounting the horrific incident, an eyewitness told ABP News that at least a 100 people were there on the bridge when it collapsed.

“There were around 100 people on the bridge when the incident happen. Every day we take the bridge to commute and today, this happened. What we can recall, there were people under the bridge as well when a part of it collapsed,” he told ABP.

Another eyewitness, Rajesh Rawalkar, said about the tragedy:

“I saw people fall from the top, around 20 people were injured. It happened around 7:30 and there was a lot of traffic. Some people fell on top of a taxi, there was a lot of debris. We removed it and found at least 10 people who we put in an ambulance. I think five must have died on impact, but let’s see.”

Rajesh Rawalkar

Another eyewitness, speaking to NDTV, said that the bridge was being repaired in the morning but was being used despite it.

“The overbridge was being used despite repairs being carried out this morning,” the eyewitness told the news channel.

The incident took place around 7.30 pm when a major portion of the bridge caved in, an official told PTI.

Some motorists, who were passing from under the bridge when it collapsed, were among those injured, he added.

Another eyewitness, MLA Waris Pathan, added, “The BMC, the state government are responsible. What has happened after [the] Elphinstone [incident]? What about the BMC budget? How does the government have 3,000 crores for a monument but not for public safety? The BMC and the railways will just play the blame game.”

Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said, "Don’t make it political," after being asked by reporters on the state's responsibility.