Stampede at Elphinstone Road Station: 35-yr-old victim celebrated Dussehra with fellow commuters, gifted sweets to motorman

“Look at the irony. The train that we paid our respect to, the whole suburban system we use every day, became responsible for his death,” said Sameer Sonputre, Kadam’s friend and co-passenger.

Sonputre had alighted at Ghatkopar at 9.49 am and took the metro to his Andheri office. “At 11.30 am, I got a call from our friend that Kadam had passed away,” he told the Indian Express.

The group 70 friends who board the train at Dombivali got off at different stations — Thane, Ghatkopar, Kurla, Dadar and Parel — depending on where their offices are. Kadam had alighted at Parel with Baba Jadhav and few other friends. They were crossing over to Elphinstone Road by taking the Parel foot over bridge when they got caught in the rush.

According to Jadhav, Kadam got lost in the crowd and got buried under several people that led to his instantaneous death. He was declared dead at KEM hospital after he was pulled out by Jadhav and others. Kadam was married and has a child.

On Friday, he had got sweets for his fellow commuters to celebrate Dussehra paying little attention to the packed compartments. “We all are so used to crowds in trains and on stations,” Sonputre said.