In a tragic fallout of Thursday evening’s flash strike by Central Railway employees, two passengers were killed and three others injured after they were hit by an Ambarnath-bound fast train near Sandhurst Road railway station, minutes after they got down from stalled local trains and began walking on the tracks. The one-hour strike had brought services to a halt during peak hours, leaving thousands stranded and prompting several to deboard and attempt to reach their destinations on foot.
The incident took place around 7 pm, shortly after services at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) were stopped due to the agitation. “All five were in a train that was heading towards CSMT and due to the strike, the trains were stopped,” a GRP official said, adding that no trains had left CSMT for nearly an hour when the victims stepped onto the tracks. As the strike was called off and services resumed, the Ambarnath fast local hit the group.
The five were rushed to JJ Hospital, where 19-year-old Hailey Mohmaya and 45-year-old Suryakant Naik, a resident of Mira Road, were declared dead. Hailey’s paternal aunt, Khushbu, sustained fractures to her hand and was shifted to a private hospital.
“Hailey was doing her first year BA at Somaiya College and was heading to South Mumbai for some work along with Khushbu,” said a relative at the hospital. Hailey’s father, Priyesh Mohmaya, works in the share market and lives in Matunga.
Two other injured passengers, 62-year-old Yafiza Chougule and her 22-year-old son Kaif, were also shifted to a private hospital in South Mumbai. “Yafiza’s condition is critical and she is unconscious while Kaif sustained minor injuries,” said a GRP official.
According to the GRP, Yafiza and Kaif, residents of Mumbra, decided to walk to a relative’s home at Sandhurst Road after waiting in the stalled train. Seeing them, Hailey and Khushbu, who were “suffocating in the crowded compartment”, also alighted, followed by Naik. “They started walking on the track to go to the other side. However, around the same time the strike was called off and the Ambarnath-bound train hit them,” the official said. The GRP has recorded Kaif’s statement at JJ Hospital.
The flash strike was launched in protest against the GRP registering an FIR on November 1 against two Central Railway (CR) engineers and senior officials for alleged negligence that led to a fatal accident in Mumbra in June, in which five persons died. Soon after the FIR, unions had warned of industrial action, calling the FIR “unfair action” by the GRP.
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Passengers were left in the lurch as trains were halted at CSMT around 5.30 pm, and protesters with CRMS and NFIR banners staged a sit-in outside senior officials’ offices demanding withdrawal of the FIR. The strike caused chaos across Central Railway stations, triggering overcrowding at CSMT, Byculla and Sandhurst Road. With no announcements initially, confused commuters deboarded halted trains and began walking on the tracks. Services resumed at 6.30 pm.
The CSMT GRP is recording statements of eyewitnesses and relatives of the victims.
Local MLA Amin Patel visited in the JJ hospital and met Hailey’s family members. Demanding action against the protesters, Hailey’s mother told Patel, “Who will return my daughter, and why the police could not stop those protesting during the peak hours.”
